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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 Jose (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 Jose. 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 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 Jose is located in Santa Clara County and is the County Seat.

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 Santa Clara County: Alameda, Merced, San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Cruz & Stanislaus.

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

  • Santa Clara County     (The home county of San Jose)
    • The following are listed by their distance from San Jose, with the one closest to San Jose listed first.
    • Sunol - Midtown
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunol - Midtown
      • Sunol - Midtown is located in Santa Clara County
    • Buena Vista
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buena Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
      • Buena Vista is located in Santa Clara County
    • Burbank
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burbank
      • Burbank is located in Santa Clara County
    • Fruitdale
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitdale
      • Fruitdale is located in Santa Clara County
    • Santa Clara
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Alum Rock
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alum Rock
      • Alum Rock is located in Santa Clara County
    • Seven Trees
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Trees
      • Seven Trees is located in Santa Clara County
    • Campbell
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • East Foothills
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Foothills
      • East Foothills is located in Santa Clara County
    • Agnew
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agnew
      • Agnew is located in Santa Clara County
    • Cambrian Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cambrian Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambrian Park
      • Cambrian Park is located in Santa Clara County
    • Rancho Rinconada
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rancho Rinconada have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rancho Rinconada
      • Rancho Rinconada is located in Santa Clara County
    • Milpitas
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Alameda County
    • The following are listed by their distance from San Jose, with the one closest to San Jose listed first.
    • Drawbridge ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drawbridge
      • Drawbridge is located in Alameda County
      • Former name for Drawbridge:
      • Saline City
    • Albrae ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Albrae have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albrae
      • Albrae is located in Alameda County
    • Larkins Landing ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Larkins Landing. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larkins Landing
      • Larkins Landing is located in Alameda County
    • Fremont
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont
      • Fremont is located in Alameda County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 234,569 people
      • Former names for Fremont:
      • Centerville
      • Irvington
      • Mission San Jose
      • Niles
      • Warm Springs
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fremont <2>
    • Newark
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Scotts Corner
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotts Corner
      • Scotts Corner is located in Alameda County
    • Sunol
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Union City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union City
      • Union City is located in Alameda County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 74,501 people
      • Former name for Union City:
      • Decoto
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Union City <2>
    • Alvarado ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alvarado. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alvarado
      • Alvarado is located in Alameda County
    • Pleasanton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Mount Eden
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Dublin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Fairview
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairview have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
      • Fairview is located in Alameda County
  • Contra Costa County
    • San Ramon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Monterey County
    • Pajaro
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pajaro
      • Pajaro is located in Monterey County
  • San Joaquin County
    • Carnegie ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Carnegie. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carnegie
      • Carnegie is located in San Joaquin County
  • San Mateo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from San Jose, with the one closest to San Jose listed first.
    • East Palo Alto
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • The Willows
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Willows
      • The Willows is located in San Mateo County
    • Menlo Park
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Ladera
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladera
      • Ladera is located in San Mateo County
    • Atherton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Portola Valley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • West Menlo Park
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • North Fair Oaks
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Fair Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Fair Oaks
      • North Fair Oaks is located in San Mateo County
    • Searsville ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Searsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Searsville
      • Searsville is located in San Mateo County
    • La Honda
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Woodside
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Redwood City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Adobe Corner
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adobe Corner
      • Adobe Corner is located in San Mateo County
  • Santa Cruz County
    • The following are listed by their distance from San Jose, with the one closest to San Jose listed first.
    • Alma ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alma have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma
      • Alma is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Summit
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit
      • Summit is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Summit has also been known as:
      • Loma Prieta
    • Laurel
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel
      • Laurel is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Glenwood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
      • Glenwood is located in Santa Cruz County
    • The Willows
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Willows
      • The Willows is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Lompico
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lompico
      • Lompico is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Boulder Creek
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Zayante
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zayante
      • Zayante is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Ben Lomond
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Brookdale
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Eccles ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Eccles. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eccles
      • Eccles is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Scotts Valley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Felton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of San Jose ...

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 163 newspapers that have been published in the area around San Jose.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of San Jose. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of San Jose and those printed in the larger area surrounding San Jose.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4> of San Jose.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Jose:

Cemeteries Near San Jose ...

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

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 San Jose covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Santa Clara Mission Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Oak Hill Memorial Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Hill Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Memorial Park
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Calvary Cemetery is located in Alum Rock.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
  • Mission City Memorial Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mission City Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mission City Memorial Park
  • Los Gatos Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • St. Johns Catholic Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Catholic Cemetery
  • Madronia Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Madronia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Madronia Cemetery
  • Cedar Lawn Memorial Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Gates of Heaven Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gates of Heaven Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gates of Heaven Cemetery
  • Old Mexican Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Mexican Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Mexican Cemetery
  • Hidalgo Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hidalgo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hidalgo Cemetery
  • Hacienda Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hacienda Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hacienda Cemetery
  • Continue List   (48 more) ...
    • St. Josephs Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Mission San Jose Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mission San Jose Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mission San Jose Cemetery
    • Alta Mesa Memorial Park
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that San Jose had a population of 18,060 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, San Jose had a population of 1,013,616 people.

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

  • College Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for College Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Park
    • College Park is located in Santa Clara County
  • Santa Clara
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Campbell
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Berryessa
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berryessa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryessa
    • Berryessa is located in Santa Clara County
  • Alamitos
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alamitos have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamitos
    • Alamitos is located in Santa Clara County
  • Agnew
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agnew
    • Agnew is located in Santa Clara County
  • Lawrence
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lawrence have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrence
    • Lawrence is located in Santa Clara County
  • Milpitas
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Evergreen
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evergreen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
    • Evergreen is located in Santa Clara County
  • Los Gatos
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Alviso
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Saratoga
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Guadalupe ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guadalupe have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guadalupe
      • Guadalupe is located in Santa Clara County
    • Greystone ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greystone have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greystone
      • Greystone is located in Santa Clara County
    • Mountain View
      (10 miles [16.1 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 San Jose. See our List of 1890's Communities around San Jose.

The official website for San Jose: www.sanjoseca.gov/

The official website for Santa Clara County: www.sccgov.org/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- San Jose) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in San Jose. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3332, Longitude: -121.8970    
<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 San Jose, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024