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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Pilliken (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Pilliken. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Pilliken is located in El Dorado County.

To see how the shape of California's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of El Dorado County: Alpine, Amador, Placer, Sacramento & Douglas (NV).

Below are the counties that are near Pilliken. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Pilliken:

  • El Dorado County     (The home county of Pilliken)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pilliken, with the one closest to Pilliken listed first.
    • Kyburz
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • White Hall
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Hall have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Hall
      • White Hall is located in El Dorado County
    • Riverton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riverton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
      • Riverton is located in El Dorado County
    • Pacific
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pacific have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacific
      • Pacific is located in El Dorado County
    • Grizzly Flatx
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Fresh Pond
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fresh Pond have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fresh Pond
      • Fresh Pond is located in El Dorado County
    • Strawberry
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Pollock Pines
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Twin Bridges
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasant Valley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
      • Pleasant Valley is located in El Dorado County
    • Sportsman Hall ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sportsman Hall
      • Sportsman Hall is located in El Dorado County
    • Camino
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Alpine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pilliken, with the one closest to Pilliken listed first.
    • Kirkwood
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Bear Valley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Alpine
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Alpine
      • Lake Alpine is located in Alpine County
    • Sorensens
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sorensens
      • Sorensens is located in Alpine County
    • Alpine Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpine Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine Village
      • Alpine Village is located in Alpine County
    • Marklee Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marklee Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marklee Village
      • Marklee Village is located in Alpine County
    • Woodfords
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodfords have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodfords
      • Woodfords is located in Alpine County
    • Markleeville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Amador County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pilliken, with the one closest to Pilliken listed first.
    • Kit Carson
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Pioneer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Volcano
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • River Pines
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Fiddletown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Pine Grove
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Electra ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Electra. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Electra
      • Electra is located in Amador County
    • Plymouth
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Calaveras County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pilliken, with the one closest to Pilliken listed first.
    • Bummerville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bummerville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bummerville
      • Bummerville is located in Calaveras County
    • West Point
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Wilseyville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Big Meadow
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Meadow
      • Big Meadow is located in Calaveras County
    • Sandy Gulch
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Gulch
      • Sandy Gulch is located in Calaveras County
    • Rail Road Flat
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Big Trees Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Trees Village
      • Big Trees Village is located in Calaveras County
    • Camp Connell
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Glencoe
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Dorrington
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Big Trees
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Trees
      • Big Trees is located in Calaveras County
    • Arnold
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Placer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pilliken, with the one closest to Pilliken listed first.
    • Tahoma Meadows
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tahoma Meadows have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tahoma Meadows
      • Tahoma Meadows is located in Placer County
    • Homewood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Greekstore
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greekstore
      • Greekstore is located in Placer County
    • Tahoe Pines
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tahoe Pines
      • Tahoe Pines is located in Placer County
  • Douglas County (NV)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pilliken, with the one closest to Pilliken listed first.
    • Edgewood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edgewood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewood
      • Edgewood is located in Douglas County (NV)
    • Stateline
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Tahoe Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tahoe Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tahoe Village
      • Tahoe Village is located in Douglas County (NV)
    • Zephyr Cove
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Pilliken, see our County-by-County Page for Pilliken.

Cemeteries Near Pilliken ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pilliken.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Pilliken covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Pilliken, with the one closest to Pilliken listed first.

  • Maidens Gravesite
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Indian Diggings Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Diggings Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Diggings Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Andreason Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Andreason Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Andreason Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7839 <4>
  • Smith Flat Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smith Flat Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smith Flat Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Catholic Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Catholic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Protestant Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Protestant Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Protestant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pioneer Grave
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Grave
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Inedpendence Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
  • Bennett Memorial Park
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bennett Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bennett Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Catholic Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Catholic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Placerville Union Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Fiddletown Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Pine Grove Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Middletown Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Middletown Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Middletown Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<6>

While we didn't find Pilliken in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Pilliken.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Pilliken, with the one closest to Pilliken listed first.

  • Bryants
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bryants have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryants
    • Bryants is located in El Dorado County
  • Grizzly Flatx
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Pacific
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pacific have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacific
    • Pacific is located in El Dorado County
  • Omo Ranch
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Omo Ranch have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omo Ranch
    • Omo Ranch is located in El Dorado County
  • Pleasant Valley
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
    • Pleasant Valley is located in El Dorado County
  • Fair Play
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • West Point
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Volcano
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Emerald Bay
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emerald Bay have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald Bay
    • Emerald Bay is located in El Dorado County
  • Tallac Village
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tallac Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tallac Village
    • Tallac Village is located in El Dorado County
  • Placerville
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Fiddletown
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Pine Grove
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Rail Road Flat
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Lake Valley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Valley
      • Lake Valley is located in El Dorado County

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Pilliken. See our List of 1890's Communities around Pilliken.

Newspapers Published in Pilliken ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 45 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pilliken.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pilliken, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Pilliken.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Pilliken:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Pilliken. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for El Dorado County: www.co.el-dorado.ca.us/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Pilliken) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Pilliken. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.6863, Longitude: -120.3544       In this case, the coordinates for Pilliken have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Pilliken, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 22 Jul 2025