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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 Santa Margarita Groves (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 Santa Margarita Groves. 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.

Name Variations for Santa Margarita Groves ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Santa Margarita Groves: Santa Margarita Grvs.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 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 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.

Santa Margarita Groves is located in Riverside 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 Riverside County: La Paz (AZ), Imperial, Orange, San Bernardino & San Diego.

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

  • Riverside County     (The home county of Santa Margarita Groves)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Santa Margarita Groves, with the one closest to Santa Margarita Groves listed first.
    • Murrieta
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Wildomar
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Lake Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Lake Village is located in Riverside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Village
    • Murrieta Hot Springs
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Murrieta Hot Springs is located in Riverside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murrieta Hot Springs
    • Temecula
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Rainbow Canyon Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Lakeland Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Lakeland Village is located in Riverside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeland Village
    • Sedco Hills
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Sedco Hills is located in Riverside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sedco Hills
    • Lake Elsinore
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Dutch Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Dutch Village is located in Riverside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutch Village
    • Canyon Lake
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Auld ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Auld is located in Riverside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auld
  • Orange County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Santa Margarita Groves, with the one closest to Santa Margarita Groves listed first.
    • Trabuco Highlands
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Trabuco Highlands is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trabuco Highlands
    • Coto de Caza
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • San Clemente
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Rancho Santa Margarita
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Ladera Ranch
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Las Flores
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Las Flores is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Flores
    • Trabuco Canyon
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Capistrano Beach
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • San Juan Capistrano
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Portola Hills
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Portola Hills is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portola Hills
    • Dana Point
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Mission Viejo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • San Diego County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Santa Margarita Groves, with the one closest to Santa Margarita Groves listed first.
    • Fallbrook
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • DeLuz
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • DeLuz is located in San Diego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeLuz
    • Rainbow
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Rainbow is located in San Diego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainbow
    • Bonsall
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Pala
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Ysidora ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Ysidora is located in San Diego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ysidora
    • Las Flores ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Las Flores is located in San Diego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Flores
    • San Luis Rey
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • San Onofre
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Lawrence Welk Resort Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Oceanside
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Hidden Meadows
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Hidden Meadows is located in San Diego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Meadows

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

Cemeteries Near Santa Margarita Groves ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Santa Margarita Groves.

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 Santa Margarita Groves - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Santa Margarita Groves, with the one closest to Santa Margarita Groves listed first.

  • Laurel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Fallbrook Masonic Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fallbrook Masonic Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Fallbrook Masonic Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Fallbrook.
    • The Fallbrook Masonic Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Malsonic Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8139 <2>
  • Fallbrook Odd Fellows Community Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Temecula Public Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temecula Public Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Temecula Public Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Temecula.
    • The Temecula Public Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Temecula Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1759791 <2>
  • Wildomar Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Elsinore Valley Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Indian Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Pala Tribal Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Menifee Valley Memorial Park
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • San Luis Rey Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Eternal Hills Memorial Park
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Pauma Valley Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Radec Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Perris Valley Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Mission Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 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.<3>

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

These communities are listed based on their distance from Santa Margarita Groves, with the one closest to Santa Margarita Groves listed first.

  • Murrieta
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Fallbrook
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • DeLuz
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • DeLuz is located in San Diego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeLuz
  • Rainbow
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Rainbow is located in San Diego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainbow
  • Bonsall
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Pala
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Ysidora ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Ysidora is located in San Diego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ysidora
  • Las Flores ‑ Historic
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Las Flores is located in San Diego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Flores
  • San Onofre
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • San Luis Rey
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Oceanside
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Vista
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Vista is located in San Diego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vista
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 100,636 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vista <1>
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Buena Vista
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Buena Vista is located in San Diego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
    • Escondido Junction
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Escondido Junction is located in San Diego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Escondido Junction
    • Buena
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Buena is located in San Diego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena

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

Newspapers Published in Santa Margarita Groves ...

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 98 newspapers that have been published in the area around Santa Margarita Groves.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Santa Margarita Groves, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Santa Margarita Groves.

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 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 Santa Margarita Groves:

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 Santa Margarita Groves, 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' (or 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- Santa Margarita Groves) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.