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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 Shaws Flat (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 Shaws Flat. 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 Shaws Flat ...

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.

  • A typical abbreviation for Shaws Flat: Shaws Flt.
  • While the name of this community is Shaws Flat, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Shaws Flat may originally have been Shaw's Flat.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Shaws Flat might be written as Shaw Flat.

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.

Shaws Flat is located in Tuolumne 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 Tuolumne County: Alpine, Calaveras, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono & Stanislaus.

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

  • Tuolumne County     (The home county of Shaws Flat)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shaws Flat, with the one closest to Shaws Flat listed first.
    • Columbia Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Columbia Village is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbia Village
    • Martinez
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Martinez is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinez
    • Squabbletown
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Squabbletown is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squabbletown
    • Columbia
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Sonora
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jamestown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • East Sonora
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • East Sonora is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Sonora
    • Greenley Oaks
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Greenley Oaks is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenley Oaks
    • Rawhide
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Rawhide is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawhide
    • Tuttletown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Tuttletown is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuttletown
    • Peaceful Valley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Peaceful Valley is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peaceful Valley
    • Mono Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Mono Village is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mono Village
  • Amador County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shaws Flat, with the one closest to Shaws Flat listed first.
    • Electra ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Electra is located in Amador County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Electra
    • Pioneer
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Jackson
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Calaveras County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shaws Flat, with the one closest to Shaws Flat listed first.
    • Melones ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Melones is located in Calaveras County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melones
    • Vallecito
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Douglas Flat
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Angels Camp
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Angels City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Angels City is located in Calaveras County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angels City
    • Angels
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Angels is located in Calaveras County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angels
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,963 people
    • Murphys
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Altaville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedar Vista
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Cedar Vista is located in Calaveras County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Vista
    • Forest Meadows
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Forest Meadows is located in Calaveras County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Meadows
    • The Shores of Poker Flat
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Copper Cove Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Copper Cove Village is located in Calaveras County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copper Cove Village
  • Mariposa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shaws Flat, with the one closest to Shaws Flat listed first.
    • Coulterville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Dogtown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Dogtown is located in Mariposa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogtown
  • Stanislaus County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shaws Flat, with the one closest to Shaws Flat listed first.
    • Knights Ferry
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • La Grange
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • East Oakdale
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • East Oakdale is located in Stanislaus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Oakdale
    • Adela
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Adela is located in Stanislaus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adela
    • Oakdale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Oakdale is located in Stanislaus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakdale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23,228 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oakdale <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Shaws Flat ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shaws Flat.

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 Shaws Flat - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Shaws Flat Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Catholic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Sonora City Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Jewish Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Sonora Hebrew Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonora Hebrew Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Sonora Hebrew Cemetery is located in Sonora.
    • The Sonora Hebrew Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Pioneer Jewish Cemetery
  • Masonic Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Mountain Shadow Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Catholic Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Public Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Jamestown Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Stent Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stent Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Stent Cemetery is located in the vicinity of Stent
    • The Stent Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Poverty Hill Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2229117 <3>
  • Continue List   (28 more) ...
    • Vallecito Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Carter's Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carter's Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Carter's Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Tuolumne.
      • The Carter's Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Tuolumne City Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1103592 <3>
    • Tuolumne Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)

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.<4>

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

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

  • Sonora
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Columbia
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Tuttletown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Tuttletown is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuttletown
  • Jamestown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Douglas Flat
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Soulsbyville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Angels Camp
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Murphys
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Chinese Camp
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Tuolumne
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Copperopolis
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Avery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Sheep Ranch
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Big Oak Flat
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Groveland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Shaws Flat ...

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 Shaws Flat.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Shaws Flat, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Shaws Flat.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Shaws Flat:

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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Shaws Flat, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Shaws Flat) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.