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 Riverside (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 Riverside. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.
Riverside 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 Riverside. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Riverside:
- Stanislaus County (The home county of Riverside)
- The following are listed by their distance from Riverside, with the one closest to Riverside listed first.
- Empire
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Bystrom
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bystrom is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bystrom
- Shackelford
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Shackelford is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shackelford
- Modesto
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Ceres
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Bret Harte
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Bret Harte is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bret Harte
- West Modesto
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- West Modesto is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Modesto
- Keyes
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Hughson
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Riverbank
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Riverdale Park
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Riverdale Park is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverdale Park
- Stewart
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Stewart is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart
- Del Rio
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Del Rio is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Del Rio
- Calaveras County
- The following are listed by their distance from Riverside, with the one closest to Riverside listed first.
- Telegraph City
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Telegraph City is located in Calaveras County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Telegraph City
- The Shores of Poker Flat
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Milton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Milton is located in Calaveras County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
- Copper Cove Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Copper Cove Village is located in Calaveras County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copper Cove Village
- Copperopolis
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Merced County
- The following are listed by their distance from Riverside, with the one closest to Riverside listed first.
- Hilmar
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Delhi
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Ballico
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Cressey
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Livingston
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Stevinson
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Arundel ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Arundel is located in Merced County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arundel
- The Grove
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- The Grove is located in Merced County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Grove
- Winton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Gustine
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Amsterdam
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Amsterdam is located in Merced County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amsterdam
- Atwater
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Fluhr
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Fluhr is located in Merced County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fluhr
- San Joaquin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Riverside, with the one closest to Riverside listed first.
- Escalon
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Alba
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Alba is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alba
- Ripon
(12 miles [19.3 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>
- Cometa
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Cometa is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cometa
- Atlanta
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Atlanta is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlanta
- Five Corners
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Five Corners is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Corners
- Trigo ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Trigo is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trigo
- Manteca
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Vernalis
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Farmington
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Manteca Junction
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Manteca Junction is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manteca Junction
- Lathrop
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Banta
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Tuolumne County
- Yosemite Junction
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Yosemite Junction is located in Tuolumne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yosemite Junction
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Riverside, see our County-by-County Page for Riverside.
Cemeteries Near Riverside ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Riverside.
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 Riverside - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Riverside covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Riverside, with the one closest to Riverside listed first.
- St. Stanislaus Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Lakewood Memorial Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Woodcolony Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- 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.
- Langworth Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Burwood Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Turlock Memorial Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Denair Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Citizens Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Ripon Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Grayson Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- St. Johns Catholic Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Valley Home Memorial Park
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Continue List (30 more) ...
- Patterson Cemetery District
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- North Hilmar Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Atlanta Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
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 Riverside in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Riverside.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Riverside, with the one closest to Riverside listed first.
- Modesto
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Ceres
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Keyes
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Salida
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Hickman
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Waterford
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Oakdale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Turlock
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Ripon
(12 miles [19.3 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>
- Grayson
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Grayson is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayson
- Montpelier
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Montpelier is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montpelier
- Westley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Cometa
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Cometa is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cometa
- Atlanta
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Atlanta is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlanta
- Delhi
(17 miles [27.4 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 Riverside. See our List of 1890's Communities around Riverside.
Newspapers Published in Riverside ...
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 117 newspapers that have been published in the area around Riverside.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Riverside, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Riverside.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Riverside:
- Websites specific to California
- Pages specific to Stanislaus County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Calaveras County
- Merced County
- San Joaquin County
- Tuolumne 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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Riverside) 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 Riverside, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |