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The Commemorative Quarter for California





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 Potrero (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 Potrero. 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 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.

Potrero is located in San Diego 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 Diego County: Imperial, Orange & Riverside.

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

  • San Diego County     (The home county of Potrero)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Potrero, with the one closest to Potrero listed first.
    • Tecate
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Canyon City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canyon City
      • Canyon City is located in San Diego County
    • Campo
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Morena Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morena Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morena Village
      • Morena Village is located in San Diego County
    • Engineer Springs
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Engineer Springs
      • Engineer Springs is located in San Diego County
    • Dulzura
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Los Terrentos
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Terrentos
      • Los Terrentos is located in San Diego County
    • Pine Valley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Descanso
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Guatay
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guatay have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guatay
      • Guatay is located in San Diego County
    • Jamul Indian Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jamul Indian Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamul Indian Village
      • Jamul Indian Village is located in San Diego County
    • North Jamul
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Jamul
      • North Jamul is located in San Diego County
    • The Willows
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Willows
      • The Willows is located in San Diego County

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

Newspapers Published in Potrero ...

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 108 newspapers that have been published in the area around Potrero.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Potrero, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Potrero.

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 either 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 Potrero:

  • Genealogy information for nearby counties

Cemeteries Near Potrero ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Potrero.

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

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

  • St. Carmel Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Carmel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Carmel Cemetery
  • St. Francis Xavier Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Francis Xavier Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Francis Xavier Cemetery
  • El Cajon Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Glen Abbey Memorial Park
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • La Vista Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the La Vista Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the La Vista Cemetery
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Olivet Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Olivet Cemetery
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwood Cemetery
  • Greenwood Memorial Park
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Home of Peace Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Mt. Hope Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Potrero had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Campo
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Dulzura
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Descanso
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Jamul
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Alpine
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Dehesa
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dehesa have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dehesa
    • Dehesa is located in San Diego County
  • Otay
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Otay have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otay
    • Otay is located in San Diego County
  • La Presa
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Presa
    • La Presa is located in San Diego County
  • Sunnyside
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
    • Sunnyside is located in San Diego County
  • El Capitan ‑ Historic
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for El Capitan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Capitan
    • El Capitan is located in San Diego County
  • Lakeside
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • El Cajon
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Spring Valley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Bonita
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Riverview
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riverview have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
      • Riverview is located in San Diego County

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

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

The official website for San Diego County: www.sdcounty.ca.gov/

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Potrero) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Potrero. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.6078, Longitude: -116.6133    
<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>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 Potrero, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024