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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Rankin. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Rankin to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Rankin, please Contact Us.

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 Rankin (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 Rankin. 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 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Rankin is historic, it would have been located within present day Mendocino County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Mendocino County: Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Sonoma, Tehama & Trinity.

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

  • Mendocino County     (The home county of Rankin)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rankin, with the one closest to Rankin listed first.
    • Hopland
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Hermitage ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Hermitage is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermitage
    • Yorkville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Largo ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Largo is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Largo
    • Talmage
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Boonville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Ukiah
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Ukiah is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ukiah
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,883 people
      • Ukiah has also been known as:
      • Ukiah City
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ukiah <2>
    • The Forks
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • The Forks is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Forks
    • Hemlock Ranch
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Hemlock Ranch is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemlock Ranch
      • Hemlock Ranch has also been known as:
      • Hemlock
    • Philo
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Calpella
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Redwood Valley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rankin, with the one closest to Rankin listed first.
    • Lakeport
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Finley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Kelseyville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • North Lakeport
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • North Lakeport is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lakeport
    • Soda Bay
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Saratoga Springs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Saratoga Springs is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saratoga Springs
    • Glenview
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Glenview is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenview
    • Witter Springs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Witter Springs is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Witter Springs
    • Nice
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Robinson Rancheria
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Robinson Rancheria is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Rancheria
    • Upper Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Glenbrook
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Glenbrook is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenbrook
  • Sonoma County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rankin, with the one closest to Rankin listed first.
    • Preston
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Preston is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
    • Cloverdale
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Geyserville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Mercuryville ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Mercuryville is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercuryville
    • Annapolis
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Sea Ranch
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Stewarts Point
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Healdsburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Camp Rose
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Camp Rose is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Rose
    • Cazadero
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Fort Ross
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Fort Ross is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Ross
    • Rio Nido
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Rankin ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rankin.

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.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Rankin - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Hopland Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Cloverdale Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Cloverdale Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Cloverdale.
    • The Cloverdale Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Haywards Cemetery
    • Mt. Olive Cemetery
    • Riverside Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #991087 <3>
  • Ornbaun Springs Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Indian Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Hartley Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Kelseyville Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Kelsay Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Stone & Kelsey Gravesite
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Ukiah Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Pinoleville Rancheria Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (29 more) ...

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.

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

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

  • Hopland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Pieta
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Pieta is located in Mendocino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pieta
  • Hermitage ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hermitage is located in Mendocino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermitage
  • Yorkville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Largo ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Largo is located in Mendocino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Largo
  • Preston
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Preston is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
  • Cloverdale
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Highland Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Highland Springs is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Springs
  • Asti
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Asti is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asti
  • Lakeport
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Talmage
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Boonville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Ukiah
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Ukiah is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ukiah
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,883 people
      • Ukiah has also been known as:
      • Ukiah City
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ukiah <2>
    • Kelseyville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Geyserville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Rankin ...

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 95 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rankin.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rankin, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rankin.

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 Rankin:

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Rankin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Rankin) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.