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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 Scotts Valley (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 Scotts Valley. 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 Scotts Valley ...

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 Scotts Valley: Scotts Vly. (or less commonly used: Scotts Vally. or Scotts Vlly.)
  • While the name of this city is Scotts Valley, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Scotts Valley may originally have been Scott's Valley.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Scotts Valley might be written as Scott Valley.

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 doctors 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.

Scotts Valley is located in Santa Cruz 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 Cruz County: Monterey, San Benito, San Mateo & Santa Clara.

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

  • Santa Cruz County     (The home county of Scotts Valley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Scotts Valley, with the one closest to Scotts Valley listed first.
    • Eccles ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eccles
      • Eccles is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Zayante
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zayante
      • Zayante is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Mount Hermon
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Pasatiempo
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pasatiempo
      • Pasatiempo is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Paradise Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Park
      • Paradise Park is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Felton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Glenwood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
      • Glenwood is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Laurel
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel
      • Laurel is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Ben Lomond
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Lompico
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lompico
      • Lompico is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Santa Cruz
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Soquel
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Alameda County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Scotts Valley, with the one closest to Scotts Valley listed first.
    • Drawbridge ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drawbridge
      • Drawbridge is located in Alameda County
      • Former name for Drawbridge:
      • Saline City
    • Albrae ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Albrae have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albrae
      • Albrae is located in Alameda County
    • Larkins Landing ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larkins Landing
      • Larkins Landing is located in Alameda County
  • Monterey County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Scotts Valley, with the one closest to Scotts Valley listed first.
    • Pajaro
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pajaro
      • Pajaro is located in Monterey County
    • Las Lomas
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Lomas
      • Las Lomas is located in Monterey County
    • Elkhorn
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
      • Elkhorn is located in Monterey County
    • Moss Landing
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Aromas
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Castroville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Marina
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • 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>
    • Prunedale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Prattco ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Prattco. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prattco
      • Prattco is located in Monterey County
    • Pacific Grove
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Point Alones ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Point Alones. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Alones
      • Point Alones is located in Monterey County
    • Boronda
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boronda
      • Boronda is located in Monterey County
  • San Benito County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Scotts Valley, with the one closest to Scotts Valley listed first.
    • River Oaks
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Oaks
      • River Oaks is located in San Benito County
    • San Juan Bautista
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • San Mateo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Scotts Valley, with the one closest to Scotts Valley listed first.
    • Loma Mar
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • La Honda
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Pescadero
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Ladera
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladera
      • Ladera is located in San Mateo County
    • Portola Valley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • San Gregorio
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Searsville ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Searsville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Searsville
      • Searsville is located in San Mateo County
    • Menlo Park
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • West Menlo Park
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • The Willows
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Willows
      • The Willows is located in San Mateo County
    • Atherton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Adobe Corner
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adobe Corner
      • Adobe Corner is located in San Mateo County
  • Santa Clara County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Scotts Valley, with the one closest to Scotts Valley listed first.
    • Patchen
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Patchen. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patchen
      • Patchen is located in Santa Clara County
    • Chemeketa Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chemeketa Park
      • Chemeketa Park is located in Santa Clara County
    • Holy City ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • 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
    • Lexington Hills
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington Hills
      • Lexington Hills is located in Santa Clara County
    • Redwood Estates
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Lexington ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lexington have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington
      • Lexington is located in Santa Clara County
    • Sveadal
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sveadal
      • Sveadal is located in Santa Clara County
    • Los Gatos
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Monte Sereno
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • English Town
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • 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
    • New Almaden
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Cambrian Park
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cambrian Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambrian Park
      • Cambrian Park is located in Santa Clara County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Scotts Valley ...

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 152 newspapers that have been published in the area around Scotts Valley.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Scotts Valley. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Scotts Valley and those printed in the larger area surrounding Scotts Valley.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 18 miles [29 km]<5> of Scotts Valley.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Scotts Valley:

Cemeteries Near Scotts Valley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Scotts Valley.

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 Scotts Valley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Felton Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Felton Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Felton.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Felton Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #274025 <6>
  • Santa Cruz Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Oakwood Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
  • Old Holy Cross Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Soquel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Soquel Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Soquel.
    • The Soquel Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Beit Olam Cemetery
    • Eternal Home Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Soquel Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #999577 <6>
  • Home of Peace Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Home of Peace Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Home of Peace Cemetery
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 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
  • Day Valley Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Hidalgo Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hidalgo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hidalgo Cemetery
  • Old Mexican Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Mexican Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Mexican Cemetery
  • Continue List   (28 more) ...
    • Hacienda Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hacienda Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hacienda Cemetery
    • Los Gatos Memorial Park
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Madronia Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Madronia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Madronia Cemetery

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.<7>

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

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

  • Zayante
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zayante
    • Zayante is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Felton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Laurel
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel
    • Laurel is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Glenwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
    • Glenwood is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Ben Lomond
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Santa Cruz
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Soquel
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Capitola
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Patchen
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Patchen. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patchen
    • Patchen is located in Santa Clara County
  • Boulder Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Bonny Doon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Aptos
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Corralitos
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Guadalupe ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guadalupe have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guadalupe
      • Guadalupe is located in Santa Clara County
    • Los Gatos
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)

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

The official website for Scotts Valley: www.scottsvalley.org/

The official website for Santa Cruz County: www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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).
<2>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.
<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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Scotts Valley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Scotts Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0555, Longitude: -122.0121    
<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.
<7>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 Scotts Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024