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 Pioneer Point (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 Pioneer Point. 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.

Name Variations for Pioneer Point ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Pioneer Point: Pioneer Pt.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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.

Pioneer Point is located in San Bernardino 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 San Bernardino County: La Paz (AZ), Mohave (AZ), Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside & Clark (NV).

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

• San Bernardino County     (The home county of Pioneer Point)
  • The following are listed by their distance from Pioneer Point, with the one closest to Pioneer Point listed first.
  • Trona
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trona
    • Trona is located in San Bernardino County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Trona <1>
  • Searles Valley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Searles Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Searles Valley
    • Searles Valley is located in San Bernardino County
  • Argus
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argus
    • Argus is located in San Bernardino County
  • Westend
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westend
    • Westend is located in San Bernardino County
  • Pinnacle ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pinnacle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinnacle
    • Pinnacle is located in San Bernardino County
  • Spangler ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spangler have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spangler
    • Spangler is located in San Bernardino County
• Inyo County
  • The following are listed by their distance from Pioneer Point, with the one closest to Pioneer Point listed first.
  • Valley Wells
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Wells
    • Valley Wells is located in Inyo County
  • Homewood Canyon - Valley Wells
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood Canyon - Valley Wells
    • Homewood Canyon - Valley Wells is located in Inyo County
    • Homewood Canyon - Valley Wells has also been known as:
    • Homewood Canyon
  • Reilly ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reilly
    • Reilly is located in Inyo County
  • Millspaugh ‑ Historic
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millspaugh have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millspaugh
    • Millspaugh is located in Inyo County
  • Ballarat ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballarat
    • Ballarat is located in Inyo County
  • Indian Ranch
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Ranch
    • Indian Ranch is located in Inyo County
  • Junction Ranch
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction Ranch
    • Junction Ranch is located in Inyo County
  • Panamint City ‑ Historic
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panamint City
    • Panamint City is located in Inyo County
  • Linnie ‑ Historic
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Linnie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linnie
    • Linnie is located in Inyo County
  • Pearsonville
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearsonville
    • Pearsonville is located in Inyo County
• Kern County
  • The following are listed by their distance from Pioneer Point, with the one closest to Pioneer Point listed first.
  • China Lake
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for China Lake
    • China Lake is located in Kern County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for China Lake <1>
  • Ridgecrest
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgecrest
    • Ridgecrest is located in Kern County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 29,135 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ridgecrest <1>
  • China Lake Acres
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for China Lake Acres have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for China Lake Acres
    • China Lake Acres is located in Kern County
  • Inyokern
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inyokern
    • Inyokern is located in Kern County
    • Former names for Inyokern:
    • Magnolia
    • Siding 16
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Inyokern <1>

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

Newspapers Published in Pioneer Point ...

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 14 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pioneer Point.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pioneer Point, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Pioneer Point.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Pioneer Point:

• Websites specific to California
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Website for the California State Archives

• Pages specific to San Bernardino County
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Genealogy information for nearby counties
  • Inyo County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Kern County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Cemetery Information and Directories for California
  • Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of California
  • Cyndi's List
  • Cemeteries of California
  • Cemeteries of San Bernardino County
  • FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of California
  • Find-A-Grave: Home Page
  • Interment.net
  • Cemeteries of California
  • Cemeteries of San Bernardino County

Cemeteries Near Pioneer Point ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pioneer Point.

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 Pioneer Point covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

• Searles Valley Cemetery
  (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Searles Valley Cemetery
• Desert Memorial Park
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • To give a relative sense of its location, the Desert Memorial Park is located outside and to the east of Ridgecrest.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Desert Memorial Park
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #834087 <5>
• Ballarat Cemetery
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • To give a relative sense of its location, the Ballarat Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Ballarat.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ballarat Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2161535 <5>
• Roger McGavin Gravesite
  (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Roger McGavin Gravesite. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Roger McGavin Gravesite
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2386701 <5>

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 Pioneer Point in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Pioneer Point.

• Panamint City ‑ Historic
  (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panamint City
  • Panamint City is located in Inyo County

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

Off-the-Road Links ...

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

The official website for San Bernardino County: www.sbcounty.gov/

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