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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 Shasta Lake (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 Shasta Lake. 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 Shasta Lake ...

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.

Over the years, Shasta Lake had several name changes:

  • Prior to its current name of Shasta Lake, it was known as Central Valley.
  • Before changing to Central Valley, it was named Boomtown.
  • Shasta Lake was originally named Boomtown

Another variation: Shasta Lake City.

  • A typical abbreviation for Shasta Lake: Shasta Lk.

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.

A Few Details for Shasta Lake ...

While it's still very early in our research, we found that:

  • It was incorporated on July 2, 1993.

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 southwest 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 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 west 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.

Shasta Lake is located in Shasta 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 Shasta County: Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Siskiyou, Tehama & Trinity.

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

  • Shasta County     (The home county of Shasta Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shasta Lake, with the one closest to Shasta Lake listed first.
    • Project City ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Project City
      • Project City is located in Shasta County
    • Toyon ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Toyon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toyon
      • Toyon is located in Shasta County
      • Former name for Toyon:
      • Seaman's Place
    • Pine Grove ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
      • Pine Grove is located in Shasta County
    • Summit City ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit City
      • Summit City is located in Shasta County
    • Mountain Gate
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Gate
      • Mountain Gate is located in Shasta County
      • Former names for Mountain Gate:
      • Bass
      • Fish's Station
    • Newtown
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newtown
      • Newtown is located in Shasta County
    • Churntown ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Churntown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churntown
      • Churntown is located in Shasta County
      • Former name for Churntown:
      • One Wagon Town
    • McColl ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McColl have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McColl
      • McColl is located in Shasta County
    • Buckeye
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
      • Buckeye is located in Shasta County
    • Whitehouse ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whitehouse have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitehouse
      • Whitehouse is located in Shasta County
    • Bayha
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bayha have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayha
      • Bayha is located in Shasta County
    • Coram ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coram have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coram
      • Coram is located in Shasta County
    • Copley ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Copley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copley
      • Copley is located in Shasta County
      • Former name for Copley:
      • Motion
  • Tehama County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shasta Lake, with the one closest to Shasta Lake listed first.
    • Hooker
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
      • Hooker is located in Tehama County
    • Dales
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dales
      • Dales is located in Tehama County
    • Bend
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bend
      • Bend is located in Tehama County
  • Trinity County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shasta Lake, with the one closest to Shasta Lake listed first.
    • Deadwood ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deadwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deadwood
      • Deadwood is located in Trinity County
    • Lewiston
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Minersville ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minersville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minersville
      • Minersville is located in Trinity County
    • Trinity Center
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Douglas City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • Weaverville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Shasta Lake ...

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 54 newspapers that have been published in the area around Shasta Lake.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Shasta Lake. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Shasta Lake and those printed in the larger area surrounding Shasta Lake.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3> of Shasta Lake.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Shasta Lake:

Cemeteries Near Shasta Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shasta Lake.

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 Shasta Lake covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Central Valley Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Churntown Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Buckeye Pioneer Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Houston Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Redding Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Josephs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Josephs Cemetery
  • Lawncrest Memorial Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Shasta Catholic Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Shasta Catholic Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shasta Catholic Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2354998 <4>
  • Shasta Union Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Bates Pioneer Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Bates Pioneer Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bates Pioneer Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1988777 <4>
  • Continue List   (33 more) ...
    • Whiskeytown Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Middletown Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Middleton Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Middleton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Middleton 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.<6>

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

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

  • Buckeye
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
    • Buckeye is located in Shasta County
  • Hart ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hart have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hart
    • Hart is located in Shasta County
    • Hart has also been known as:
    • Hart Village
    • Hart's Camp
  • Kennett ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kennett have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennett
    • Kennett is located in Shasta County
  • Copley ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Copley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copley
    • Copley is located in Shasta County
    • Former name for Copley:
    • Motion
  • Redding
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Morley ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morley
    • Morley is located in Shasta County
  • Waugh ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waugh have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waugh
    • Waugh is located in Shasta County
  • Shasta
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Baird ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Baird have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baird
    • Baird is located in Shasta County
  • Mabel ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mabel have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabel
    • Mabel is located in Shasta County
  • Elmore ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elmore have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmore
    • Elmore is located in Shasta County
  • Ydaloom ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ydaloom have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ydaloom
    • Ydaloom is located in Shasta County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Girvan
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Girvan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girvan
      • Girvan is located in Shasta County
    • Millville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • French Gulch
      (14 miles [22.5 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 Shasta Lake. See our List of 1890's Communities around Shasta Lake.

The official website for Shasta Lake: www.ci.shasta-lake.ca.us/

The official website for Shasta County: www.co.shasta.ca.us/

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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Shasta Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shasta Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6809, Longitude: -122.3672    
<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>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.
<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 Shasta Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024