RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Santa Clara County >> Sawyers Crossing >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
California

The Commemorative Quarter for California





Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Sawyers Crossing. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Sawyers Crossing to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Sawyers Crossing, please Contact Us.

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 Sawyers Crossing (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 Sawyers Crossing. 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 Sawyers Crossing ...

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 have occurred.

  • A typical abbreviation for Sawyers Crossing: Sawyers Xing.
  • While the name of this community is Sawyers Crossing, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<2>. So Sawyers Crossing may originally have been Sawyer's Crossing.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Sawyers Crossing might be written as Sawyer Crossing.

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Sawyers Crossing is historic, it would have been located within present day Santa Clara County.

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 Sawyers Crossing. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Sawyers Crossing:

  • Santa Clara County     (The home county of Sawyers Crossing)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sawyers Crossing, with the one closest to Sawyers Crossing listed first.
    • Sargent ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sargent
      • Sargent is located in Santa Clara County
    • Gilroy
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilroy
      • Gilroy is located in Santa Clara County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,831 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilroy <3>
    • Rucker
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rucker
      • Rucker is located in Santa Clara County
    • San Martin
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Bell Station
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell Station
      • Bell Station is located in Santa Clara County
      • Bell Station has also been known as:
      • Bell's Station
    • Morgan Hill
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Madrone
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madrone
      • Madrone is located in Santa Clara County
    • Sveadal
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sveadal
      • Sveadal is located in Santa Clara County
    • Coyote
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • New Almaden
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • English Town
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for English Town have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Town
      • English Town is located in Santa Clara County
    • Holy City ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holy City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holy City
      • Holy City is located in Santa Clara County
  • Merced County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sawyers Crossing, with the one closest to Sawyers Crossing listed first.
    • Santa Nella Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Santa Nella
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Monterey County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sawyers Crossing, with the one closest to Sawyers Crossing listed first.
    • Aromas
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Las Lomas
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Lomas
      • Las Lomas is located in Monterey County
    • Pajaro
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pajaro
      • Pajaro is located in Monterey County
    • Elkhorn
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
      • Elkhorn is located in Monterey County
    • Prunedale
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Santa Rita
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Santa Rita have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Rita
      • Santa Rita is located in Monterey County
    • Castroville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Moss Landing
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Boronda
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boronda
      • Boronda is located in Monterey County
    • Salinas
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Spreckels
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Marina
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marina
      • Marina is located in Monterey County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,836 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marina <3>
  • San Benito County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sawyers Crossing, with the one closest to Sawyers Crossing listed first.
    • River Oaks
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Oaks
      • River Oaks is located in San Benito County
    • Dunneville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunneville
      • Dunneville is located in San Benito County
    • San Juan Bautista
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Hollister
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Ridgemark
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgemark
      • Ridgemark is located in San Benito County
    • Tres Pinos
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Paicines
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Santa Cruz County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sawyers Crossing, with the one closest to Sawyers Crossing listed first.
    • Interlaken
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Interlaken
      • Interlaken is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Colache Town
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colache Town have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colache Town
      • Colache Town is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Strongs Mobile Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Strongs Mobile Village have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strongs Mobile Village
      • Strongs Mobile Village is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Watsonville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Amesti
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amesti
      • Amesti is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Corralitos
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Freedom
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Aptos Hills - Larkin Valley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Day Valley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Day Valley
      • Day Valley is located in Santa Cruz County
    • La Selva Beach
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Rio del Mar
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Aptos
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Sawyers Crossing ...

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 36 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sawyers Crossing.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sawyers Crossing, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sawyers Crossing.

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 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 Sawyers Crossing:

Cemeteries Near Sawyers Crossing ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sawyers Crossing.

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 Sawyers Crossing covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the IOOF Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the IOOF Cemetery
  • San Juan Bautista Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
  • Calvary Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Pajaro Valley Memorial Park
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pajaro Valley Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pajaro Valley Memorial Park
  • Hambey Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hambey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hambey Cemetery
  • St. Francis Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Francis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Francis Cemetery
  • Mt. Hope Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Hope Cemetery
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the IOOF Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the IOOF Cemetery
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery
  • Continue List   (24 more) ...
    • Queen of Heaven Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Queen of Heaven Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Queen of Heaven Cemetery
    • Castroville Public Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Castroville Public Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the south of Moss Landing.
      • The Castroville Public Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Castroville Cemetery
      • Castroville / Moss Landing Cemetery
      • Moss Landing Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Castroville Public Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7885 <6>
    • Day Valley Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 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.

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

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

  • Carnadero
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carnadero have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carnadero
    • Carnadero is located in Santa Clara County
  • Sargent ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sargent
    • Sargent is located in Santa Clara County
  • Gilroy
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilroy
    • Gilroy is located in Santa Clara County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,831 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilroy <3>
  • Vega ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vega have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vega
    • Vega is located in Monterey County
  • Hollister
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Bell Station
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell Station
    • Bell Station is located in Santa Clara County
    • Bell Station has also been known as:
    • Bell's Station
  • Tennant ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tennant have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tennant
    • Tennant is located in Santa Clara County
  • Watsonville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Pajaro
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pajaro
    • Pajaro is located in Monterey County
  • Elkhorn
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
    • Elkhorn is located in Monterey County
  • Madrone
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madrone
    • Madrone is located in Santa Clara County
  • Corralitos
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Natividad
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Natividad have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natividad
      • Natividad is located in Monterey County
    • Tres Pinos
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Santa Rita
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Santa Rita have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Rita
      • Santa Rita is located in Monterey County

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

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Sawyers Crossing, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Sawyers Crossing) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sawyers Crossing. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.9572, Longitude: -121.5216       In this case, the coordinates for Sawyers Crossing have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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.




 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024