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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 Richfields (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 Richfields. 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 Richfields ...

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.

While the name of this community is Richfields, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Richfields may originally have been Richfield's.

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Richfields is located in Orange 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 Orange County: Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino & San Diego.

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

  • Orange County     (The home county of Richfields)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Richfields, with the one closest to Richfields listed first.
    • Atwood
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Yorba Linda
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Placentia
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Villa Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Anaheim Hills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Brea
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brea
      • Brea is located in Orange County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 44,484 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brea <2>
    • Orange
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Anaheim
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Fullerton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Panorama Heights
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panorama Heights
      • Panorama Heights is located in Orange County
    • Cowan Heights
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowan Heights
      • Cowan Heights is located in Orange County
    • North Tustin
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Tustin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Tustin
      • North Tustin is located in Orange County
    • La Habra
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Los Angeles County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Richfields, with the one closest to Richfields listed first.
    • La Habra Heights
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Habra Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Habra Heights
      • La Habra Heights is located in Los Angeles County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,212 people
    • Rowland Heights
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Walnut
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut
      • Walnut is located in Los Angeles County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 29,324 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Walnut <2>
    • East La Mirada
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East La Mirada have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East La Mirada
      • East La Mirada is located in Los Angeles County
    • Diamond Bar
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Woodside Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodside Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodside Village
      • Woodside Village is located in Los Angeles County
    • South San Jose Hills
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South San Jose Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South San Jose Hills
      • South San Jose Hills is located in Los Angeles County
    • La Mirada
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Spadra
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spadra have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spadra
      • Spadra is located in Los Angeles County
    • City of Industry
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Hacienda Heights
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • La Puente
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Carmenita
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carmenita have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carmenita
      • Carmenita is located in Los Angeles County
  • Riverside County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Richfields, with the one closest to Richfields listed first.
    • Corona
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corona
      • Corona is located in Riverside County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 170,996 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Corona <2>
    • Norco
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norco
      • Norco is located in Riverside County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,892 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norco <2>
    • Porphyry ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Porphyry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porphyry
      • Porphyry is located in Riverside County
    • Eastvale
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • El Cerrito
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for El Cerrito have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Cerrito
      • El Cerrito is located in Riverside County
    • Home Gardens
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Gardens
      • Home Gardens is located in Riverside County
    • Mira Loma
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Temescal
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temescal
      • Temescal is located in Riverside County
    • Pedley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pedley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pedley
      • Pedley is located in Riverside County
    • Glen Avon
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Avon
      • Glen Avon is located in Riverside County
    • Arlington
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arlington have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
      • Arlington is located in Riverside County
    • De Anza Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for De Anza Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Anza Village
      • De Anza Village is located in Riverside County
    • Jurupa Valley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jurupa Valley
      • Jurupa Valley is located in Riverside County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 109,745 people
  • San Bernardino County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Richfields, with the one closest to Richfields listed first.
    • Los Serranos
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Los Serranos have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Serranos
      • Los Serranos is located in San Bernardino County
    • Chino Hills
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Chino
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chino
      • Chino is located in San Bernardino County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 92,290 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chino <2>
    • Montclair
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montclair
      • Montclair is located in San Bernardino County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 40,600 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montclair <2>
    • Ontario
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ontario
      • Ontario is located in San Bernardino County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 183,393 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ontario <2>
    • Racimo
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Racimo
      • Racimo is located in San Bernardino County
    • Upland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upland
      • Upland is located in San Bernardino County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 77,850 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Upland <2>
    • Guasti
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Rancho Cucamonga
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Alta Loma
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • San Antonio Heights
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for San Antonio Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Antonio Heights
      • San Antonio Heights is located in San Bernardino County
    • Southridge Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southridge Village
      • Southridge Village is located in San Bernardino County
    • Etiwanda
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Richfields ...

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 37 newspapers that have been published in the area around Richfields.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Richfields, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Richfields.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Richfields:

Cemeteries Near Richfields ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Richfields.

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

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

  • Yorba Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Yorba Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Yorba Cemetery
  • Anaheim Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Cemetery of the Holy Sepulchre
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cemetery of the Holy Sepulchre have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cemetery of the Holy Sepulchre
  • Loma Vista Memorial Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Loma Vista Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Loma Vista Memorial Park
  • Melrose Abbey Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Melrose Abbey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Melrose Abbey Cemetery
  • Fairhaven Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. John's Lutheran Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Santa Ana.
    • The St. John's Lutheran Cemetery has also been known as:
    • New St. John Lutheran Cemetery
    • New St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
    • St. Johns Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8324 <5>
  • Santa Ana Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Santa Ana Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Santa Ana.
    • The Santa Ana Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Santa Ana Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8351 <5>
  • Memory Garden Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Memory Garden Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Memory Garden Memorial Park
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Cross Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Cross Cemetery
  • Queen of Heaven Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Magnolia Memorial Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Magnolia Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Magnolia Memorial Park
  • Continue List   (74 more) ...
    • Westminster Memorial Park
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Holy Cross Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Pomona.
      • The Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Holy Cross Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8036 <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 Richfields in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Richfields.

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

  • Yorba
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yorba have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorba
    • Yorba is located in Orange County
  • Olive
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olive have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive
    • Olive is located in Orange County
  • Wanda ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wanda have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wanda
    • Wanda is located in Orange County
  • Villa Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Marlboro
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marlboro have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlboro
    • Marlboro is located in Orange County
  • Anaheim
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Miraflores
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Miraflores have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miraflores
    • Miraflores is located in Orange County
  • Orange
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • McPherson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McPherson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McPherson
    • McPherson is located in Orange County
  • El Modena
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for El Modena have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Modena
    • El Modena is located in Orange County
  • Fullerton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Brookhurst
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brookhurst have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookhurst
    • Brookhurst is located in Orange County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Santa Ana
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Garden Grove
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Northam ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Northam have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northam
      • Northam is located in Orange County

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

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

The official website for Orange County: www.oc.ca.gov/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<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 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.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Richfields) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Richfields. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.8672, Longitude: -117.8259       In this case, the coordinates for Richfields have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<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 Richfields, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024