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 Riverdale Park (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 Riverdale Park. 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 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.
Riverdale Park is located in Stanislaus 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 Stanislaus County: Alameda, Calaveras, Mariposa, Merced, San Joaquin & Santa Clara.
Below are the counties that are near Riverdale Park. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Riverdale Park:
- Stanislaus County (The home county of Riverdale Park)
- The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale Park, with the one closest to Riverdale Park listed first.
- West Modesto
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- West Modesto is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Modesto
- Bret Harte
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Bret Harte is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bret Harte
- Bystrom
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Bystrom is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bystrom
- Shackelford
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Shackelford is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shackelford
- Modesto
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Tuolumne City ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Tuolumne City is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuolumne City
- Ceres
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Salida
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Grayson
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Grayson is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayson
- Empire
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Stewart
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Stewart is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart
- Keyes
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Del Rio
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Del Rio is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Del Rio
- Alameda County
- Tesla ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Tesla is located in Alameda County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tesla
- Calaveras County
- Telegraph City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Telegraph City is located in Calaveras County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Telegraph City
- Merced County
- The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale Park, with the one closest to Riverdale Park listed first.
- Hilmar
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Delhi
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Ballico
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Stevinson
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Livingston
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Gustine
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Cressey
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Arundel ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Arundel is located in Merced County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arundel
- The Grove
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- The Grove is located in Merced County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Grove
- Winton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Amsterdam
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Amsterdam is located in Merced County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amsterdam
- Atwater
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- San Joaquin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale Park, with the one closest to Riverdale Park listed first.
- Ripon
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Ripon is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,774 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ripon <1>
- Vernalis
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Alba
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Alba is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alba
- Escalon
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Atlanta
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Atlanta is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlanta
- Five Corners
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Five Corners is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Corners
- Manteca
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Cometa
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Cometa is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cometa
- Trigo ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Trigo is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trigo
- Lathrop
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Manteca Junction
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Manteca Junction is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manteca Junction
- Lyoth
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Lyoth is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyoth
- Banta
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Riverdale Park, see our County-by-County Page for Riverdale Park.
Cemeteries Near Riverdale Park ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Riverdale Park.
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 Riverdale Park - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Riverdale Park covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Riverdale Park, with the one closest to Riverdale Park listed first.
- St. Stanislaus Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Woodcolony Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodcolony Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Woodcolony Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Modesto.
- Grayson Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Patterson Cemetery District
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Lakewood Memorial Park
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Ripon Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Burwood Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Turlock Memorial Park
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Denair Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Langworth Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- St. Johns Catholic Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Atlanta Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Continue List (27 more) ...
- Citizens Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- North Hilmar Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Valley Home Memorial Park
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
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.<4>
While we didn't find Riverdale Park in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Riverdale Park.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Riverdale Park, with the one closest to Riverdale Park listed first.
- Modesto
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Ceres
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Salida
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Grayson
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Grayson is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayson
- Keyes
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Westley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Ripon
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Ripon is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,774 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ripon <1>
- Vernalis
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Turlock
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Atlanta
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Atlanta is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlanta
- Crows Landing
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Oakdale
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Hickman
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Waterford
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Yarmouth ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Yarmouth is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yarmouth
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Riverdale Park. See our List of 1890's Communities around Riverdale Park.
Newspapers Published in Riverdale Park ...
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 129 newspapers that have been published in the area around Riverdale Park.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Riverdale Park, 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 Riverdale Park.
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 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 Riverdale Park:
- Websites specific to California
- Pages specific to Stanislaus County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Alameda County
- Calaveras County
- Merced County
- San Joaquin County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for California
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 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. |
| <3> | 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- Riverdale Park) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | 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 Riverdale Park, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |