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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 River Road Estates (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 River Road Estates. 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 River Road Estates ...

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 River Road Estates: River Rd. Ests.

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

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 north 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.

River Road Estates is located in Madera 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 Madera County: Fresno, Mariposa, Merced & Mono.

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

  • Madera County     (The home county of River Road Estates)
    • The following are listed by their distance from River Road Estates, with the one closest to River Road Estates listed first.
    • Madera
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Parksdale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parksdale
      • Parksdale is located in Madera County
    • Madera Acres
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madera Acres
      • Madera Acres is located in Madera County
    • Bonadelle Ranchos - Madera Ranchos
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Parkwood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkwood
      • Parkwood is located in Madera County
    • Berenda
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berenda
      • Berenda is located in Madera County
    • La Vina
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Vina
      • La Vina is located in Madera County
    • Knowles Junction
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowles Junction
      • Knowles Junction is located in Madera County
    • Raymond
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
      • Raymond is located in Madera County
    • Knowles ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knowles have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowles
      • Knowles is located in Madera County
    • Millerton ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Millerton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
      • Millerton is located in Madera County
    • Yosemite Lakes Park
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yosemite Lakes Park
      • Yosemite Lakes Park is located in Madera County
      • Yosemite Lakes Park has also been known as:
      • Yosemite Lakes
    • Chowchilla
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Fresno County
    • The following are listed by their distance from River Road Estates, with the one closest to River Road Estates listed first.
    • Herndon
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herndon
      • Herndon is located in Fresno County
    • Barstow
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barstow have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barstow
      • Barstow is located in Fresno County
    • Biola
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Raco
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raco
      • Raco is located in Fresno County
    • Highway City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Highway City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highway City
      • Highway City is located in Fresno County
    • Friant
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Gordon
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
      • Gordon is located in Fresno County
    • Muscatel
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscatel
      • Muscatel is located in Fresno County
    • Pinedale
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Pratton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pratton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratton
      • Pratton is located in Fresno County
    • Floyd
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floyd
      • Floyd is located in Fresno County
    • Rolinda
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolinda
      • Rolinda is located in Fresno County
    • Clovis
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Mariposa County
  • Merced County
    • The following are listed by their distance from River Road Estates, with the one closest to River Road Estates listed first.
    • Le Grand
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Plainsburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plainsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainsburg
      • Plainsburg is located in Merced County
    • Athlone
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Athlone have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athlone
      • Athlone is located in Merced County
    • Planada
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Tuttle
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuttle
      • Tuttle is located in Merced County
    • El Nido
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in River Road Estates ...

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 72 newspapers that have been published in the area around River Road Estates.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of River Road Estates, 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 River Road Estates.

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 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 River Road Estates:

Cemeteries Near River Road Estates ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of River Road Estates.

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 River Road Estates covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Arbor Vitae Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Borden's Chinese Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • New Hope Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Bethany Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethany Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethany Cemetery
  • Raymond Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Chowchilla Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Chowchilla Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<4> to the northeast of Chowchilla.
    • The Chowchilla Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Chowchilla District Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chowchilla Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7906 <5>
  • St. Peters Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Peters Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Peters Cemetery
  • Clovis Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Winchell Cove Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Winchell Cove Cemetery is located outside and to the east of Friant.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Winchell Cove Cemetery
  • Winchell Cove Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Fresno Memorial Gardens
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fresno Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fresno Memorial Gardens
  • Ararat Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (23 more) ...
    • Fresno County Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Holy Cross Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Cross Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Cross Cemetery

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 River Road Estates in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of River Road Estates.

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

  • La Vina
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Vina
    • La Vina is located in Madera County
  • Herndon
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herndon
    • Herndon is located in Fresno County
  • Muscatel
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscatel
    • Muscatel is located in Fresno County
  • Raymond
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
    • Raymond is located in Madera County
  • Knowles ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knowles have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowles
    • Knowles is located in Madera County
  • Fresno
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Ben Hur
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ben Hur have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ben Hur
    • Ben Hur is located in Mariposa County
  • Plainsburg
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plainsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainsburg
    • Plainsburg is located in Merced County
  • Malaga
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Malaga have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malaga
    • Malaga is located in Fresno County
  • Grub Gulch ‑ Historic
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grub Gulch have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grub Gulch
    • Grub Gulch is located in Madera County
  • Athlone
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Athlone have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athlone
    • Athlone is located in Merced County
  • Easton
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Lone Star
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
      • Lone Star is located in Fresno County
    • Letcher ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Letcher have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Letcher
      • Letcher is located in Fresno County
    • Firebaugh
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)

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

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

The official website for Madera County: www.madera-county.com/

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>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- River Road Estates) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in River Road Estates. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.9980, Longitude: -119.9857       In this case, the coordinates for River Road Estates 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 River Road Estates, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024