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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 Serra Mesa (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 Serra Mesa. 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 and doctors 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.

Serra Mesa is located in San Diego 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 San Diego County: Imperial, Orange & Riverside.

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

  • San Diego County     (The home county of Serra Mesa)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Serra Mesa, with the one closest to Serra Mesa listed first.
    • Clairemont
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clairemont have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clairemont
      • Clairemont is located in San Diego County
    • East San Diego
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East San Diego
      • East San Diego is located in San Diego County
    • Old San Diego
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old San Diego
      • Old San Diego is located in San Diego County
    • Old Town San Diego
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Town San Diego have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town San Diego
      • Old Town San Diego is located in San Diego County
    • Bayside Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bayside Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayside Village
      • Bayside Village is located in San Diego County
    • Elvira
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • University City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for University City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University City
      • University City is located in San Diego County
    • San Diego
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Pacific Beach
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacific Beach
      • Pacific Beach is located in San Diego County
    • La Mesa
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Mira Mesa
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Coronado
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Lemon Grove
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Serra Mesa ...

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 417 newspapers that have been published in the area around Serra Mesa.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Serra Mesa, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Serra Mesa.

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 Serra Mesa:

Cemeteries Near Serra Mesa ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Serra Mesa.

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 Serra Mesa covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Miramar National Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Home of Peace Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Mt. Hope Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwood Cemetery
  • Greenwood Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • El Camino Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • La Vista Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the La Vista Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the La Vista Cemetery
  • Carmel Valley Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Glen Abbey Memorial Park
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • El Cajon Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Dearborn Memorial Park
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Olivet Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    • Olivenhain Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Olivenhain Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Olivenhain 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.<5>

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

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

  • Old Town San Diego
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Town San Diego have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town San Diego
    • Old Town San Diego is located in San Diego County
  • San Diego
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Linda Vista ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Linda Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linda Vista
    • Linda Vista is located in San Diego County
  • Selwyn ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Selwyn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selwyn
    • Selwyn is located in San Diego County
  • Pacific Beach
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacific Beach
    • Pacific Beach is located in San Diego County
  • Coronado
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • La Mesa
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Sorrento
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sorrento have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sorrento
    • Sorrento is located in San Diego County
  • National City
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Spring Valley
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Santee
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santee
    • Santee is located in San Diego County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 57,770 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Santee <2>
  • La Presa
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Presa
    • La Presa is located in San Diego County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • El Cajon
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Bonita
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Sunnyside
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
      • Sunnyside is located in San Diego County

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Serra Mesa. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for San Diego County: www.sdcounty.ca.gov/

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>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- Serra Mesa) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Serra Mesa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.8028, Longitude: -117.1384       In this case, the coordinates for Serra Mesa have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<5>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 Serra Mesa, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024