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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 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 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.

San Antonio is located in Los Angeles 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 Los Angeles County: Kern, Orange, San Bernardino & Ventura.

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:

  • Los Angeles 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.
    • Cudahy
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Cudahy is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cudahy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23,128 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cudahy <1>
    • Vinvale
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Vinvale is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinvale
    • Bell
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Bell is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 34,734 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bell <1>
    • South Gate
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Bell Gardens
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Maywood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Maywood is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maywood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26,595 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maywood <1>
    • Huntington Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Lynwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Lynwood is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 68,508 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lynwood <1>
    • Walnut Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Walnut Park is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Park
    • Downey
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Downey is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downey
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 109,202 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Downey <1>
    • Bandini
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Bandini is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bandini
    • Commerce
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Orange County
    • The following are listed by their distance from San Antonio, with the one closest to San Antonio listed first.
    • La Palma
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Buena Park
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Los Alamitos
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Cypress
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Rossmoor
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Rossmoor is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossmoor
    • La Habra
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Seal Beach
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Stanton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Brea
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Brea is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brea
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 44,484 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brea <1>
    • Fullerton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Surfside
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Barber City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Barber City is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barber City
  • San Bernardino County
    • The following are listed by their distance from San Antonio, with the one closest to San Antonio listed first.
    • Chino Hills
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Los Serranos
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Los Serranos is located in San Bernardino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Serranos
    • Chino
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Chino is located in San Bernardino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chino
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 92,290 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chino <1>
    • Montclair
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Montclair is located in San Bernardino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montclair
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 40,600 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montclair <1>

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.

  • Park Lawn Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Mt. Carmel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Memorial Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Russian Molokan Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Angeles Abbey Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Old Downey Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Home of Peace Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Beth Israel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Los Angeles Odd Fellows Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Young Israel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (79 more) ...
    • Serbian Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Chinese Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Calvary Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)

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.

  • Vinvale
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Vinvale is located in Los Angeles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinvale
  • Lynwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Lynwood is located in Los Angeles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynwood
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 68,508 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lynwood <1>
  • Downey
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Downey is located in Los Angeles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downey
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 109,202 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Downey <1>
  • Bandini
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Bandini is located in Los Angeles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bandini
  • Florence
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Florence is located in Los Angeles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
  • Compton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Compton is located in Los Angeles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 93,967 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Compton <1>
  • Clearwater
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Clearwater is located in Los Angeles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearwater
  • East Los Angeles
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Clement Junction
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Clement Junction is located in Los Angeles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clement Junction
  • South Los Angeles
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • South Los Angeles is located in Los Angeles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Los Angeles
  • Studebaker
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Studebaker is located in Los Angeles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Studebaker
  • Fulton Wells
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Fulton Wells is located in Los Angeles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton Wells
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Santa Fe Springs
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Los Nietos
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Los Angeles
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)

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 37 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 9 miles [14.5 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 begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions 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'.