RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Alameda County >> San Antonio >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 San Antonio (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 San Antonio. 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 doctors and 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.

San Antonio is located in Alameda 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 Alameda County: Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara & Stanislaus.

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

  • Alameda County     (The home county of San Antonio)
    • The following are listed by their distance from San Antonio, with the one closest to San Antonio listed first.
    • Rochedale Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Rochedale Village is located in Alameda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochedale Village
    • Berkeley
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Normandy Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Normandy Village is located in Alameda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normandy Village
    • South Berkeley
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • South Berkeley is located in Alameda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Berkeley
      • Former name for South Berkeley:
      • Lorin
    • Piedmont
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Emeryville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Albany
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • University Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • University Village is located in Alameda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Village
    • Oakland
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Montclair
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Montclair is located in Alameda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montclair
    • West Oakland
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • West Oakland is located in Alameda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Oakland
    • Brooklyn ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Brooklyn is located in Alameda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
      • Former names for Brooklyn:
      • Antonio
      • Clinton
    • Campbell Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Campbell Village is located in Alameda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell Village
  • Contra Costa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from San Antonio, with the one closest to San Antonio listed first.
    • Kensington
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Orinda Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Orinda Village is located in Contra Costa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orinda Village
    • Orinda
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Orinda is located in Contra Costa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orinda
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,557 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Orinda <1>
    • El Cerrito
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Moraga
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Moraga is located in Contra Costa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moraga
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,967 people
      • Former name for Moraga:
      • Willow Springs
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moraga <1>
    • East Richmond Heights
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • East Richmond Heights is located in Contra Costa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Richmond Heights
    • Easter Hill Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Easter Hill Village is located in Contra Costa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easter Hill Village
    • Lafayette
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Nystrom Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Nystrom Village is located in Contra Costa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nystrom Village
    • Richmond
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Richmond is located in Contra Costa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 110,038 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richmond <1>
    • El Sobrante
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Atchison Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Atchison Village is located in Contra Costa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atchison Village
    • Point Richmond
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Marin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from San Antonio, with the one closest to San Antonio listed first.
    • Fort McDowell
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Fort McDowell is located in Marin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort McDowell
    • Belvedere
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Tiburon
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Paradise Cay
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Paradise Cay is located in Marin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Cay
    • Sausalito
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • San Quentin
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Bel Aire
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Bel Aire is located in Marin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bel Aire
    • Marin City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Marin City is located in Marin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marin City
    • Manzanita
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Manzanita is located in Marin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manzanita
    • Strawberry
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Strawberry is located in Marin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry
    • Corte Madera
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Greenbrae
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Tamalpais - Homestead Valley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Napa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from San Antonio, with the one closest to San Antonio listed first.
    • American Canyon
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Lombard
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Lombard is located in Napa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lombard
    • Middleton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Middleton is located in Napa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
    • Merazo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Merazo is located in Napa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merazo
    • Suscol ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Suscol is located in Napa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suscol
      • Suscol has also been known as:
      • Soscol
      • Susqual
    • Napa
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Napa is located in Napa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Napa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 77,032 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Napa <1>
  • San Francisco County
    • The following are listed by their distance from San Antonio, with the one closest to San Antonio listed first.
    • Chinatown
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Chinatown is located in San Francisco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chinatown
    • Sydney Town ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Sydney Town is located in San Francisco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sydney Town
    • San Francisco
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Amanico Ergina Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Amanico Ergina Village is located in San Francisco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amanico Ergina Village
    • Friendship Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Friendship Village is located in San Francisco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship Village
    • Mission District
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Mission District is located in San Francisco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission District
    • Golden Gate Heights
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Golden Gate Heights is located in San Francisco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden Gate Heights
    • Doelger City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Doelger City is located in San Francisco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doelger City
    • Stonestown
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Stonestown is located in San Francisco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonestown
  • San Mateo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from San Antonio, with the one closest to San Antonio listed first.
    • Brisbane
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Broadmoor Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Broadmoor Village is located in San Mateo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadmoor Village
    • Colma
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Colma is located in San Mateo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colma
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,689 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colma <1>
    • Daly City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • South San Francisco
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Broadmoor
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Broadmoor is located in San Mateo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadmoor
    • San Bruno
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Westlake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Westlake is located in San Mateo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westlake
    • Burlingame
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Millbrae
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Foster City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Hillsborough
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Fairway Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Fairway Park is located in San Mateo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairway Park
  • Santa Clara County
    • The following are listed by their distance from San Antonio, with the one closest to San Antonio listed first.
    • Palo Alto
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Escondido Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Escondido Village is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Escondido Village
    • Stanford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Ventura
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Ventura is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ventura
  • Solano County
    • The following are listed by their distance from San Antonio, with the one closest to San Antonio listed first.
    • Benicia
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Mare Island ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Mare Island is located in Solano County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mare Island
    • Vallejo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Guadalcanal Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Guadalcanal Village is located in Solano County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guadalcanal Village
    • Green Valley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Birds Landing
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Suisun City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Suisun City is located in Solano County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suisun City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 29,305 people
      • Suisun City has also been known as:
      • Suisun
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Suisun City <1>
    • Mankas Corner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Mankas Corner is located in Solano County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mankas Corner
    • Fairfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Sonoma County
    • The following are listed by their distance from San Antonio, with the one closest to San Antonio listed first.
    • Sears Point
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Sears Point is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sears Point
    • McGill
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • McGill is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGill
    • Wingo ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Wingo is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wingo
    • Lakeville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Lakeville is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeville
    • Vineburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near San Antonio ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of San Antonio.

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 San Antonio - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • St. Mary's Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Sunset View Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Home of Peace Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Evergreen Mausoleum
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Rolling Hills Memorial Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Lafayette Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery
    • The St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Holy Angels / St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery
    • Holy Angels Cemetery
    • St. Joseph Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8327 <2>
  • Yerba Buena Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Queen of Haven Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Queen of Heaven Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (79 more) ...
    • Oakmont Memorial Park
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Oakmount Memorial Park
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • San Francisco National Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Francisco National Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the San Francisco National Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in San Francisco.
      • The San Francisco National Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Post Cemetery
      • Presidio Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8344 <2>

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.<3>

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

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

  • Berkeley
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Emeryville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • West Berkeley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • West Berkeley is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Berkeley
  • West Oakland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • West Oakland is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Oakland
  • Oakland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Brooklyn ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Brooklyn is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
    • Former names for Brooklyn:
    • Antonio
    • Clinton
  • Fruitvale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Fruitvale is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitvale
    • Former names for Fruitvale:
    • Brays
    • Fruit Vale
  • East Oakland ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • East Oakland is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Oakland
  • Stege
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Stege is located in Contra Costa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stege
  • Alameda
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Melrose
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Melrose is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose
  • Seminary Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Seminary Park is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seminary Park
  • Continue List   (19 more) ...
    • Lafayette
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • San Pablo
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • San Francisco
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in San Antonio ...

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 81 newspapers that have been published in the area around San Antonio.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of San Antonio, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for San Antonio.

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 San Antonio:

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>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 San Antonio, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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- San Antonio) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.