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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 Shirley Meadows (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 Shirley Meadows. 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 Shirley Meadows ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Shirley Meadows: Shirley Mdws.

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 southwest 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 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.

Shirley Meadows is located in Kern 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 Kern County: Inyo, Kings, Los Angeles, Monterey, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare & Ventura.

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

  • Kern County     (The home county of Shirley Meadows)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shirley Meadows, with the one closest to Shirley Meadows listed first.
    • Alta Sierra
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alta Sierra
      • Alta Sierra is located in Kern County
    • Wofford Heights
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Isabella ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Isabella have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabella
      • Isabella is located in Kern County
    • Keyesville ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keyesville
      • Keyesville is located in Kern County
      • Former names for Keyesville:
      • Hogeye
      • Keysville
    • Kernville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Rogersville ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogersville
      • Rogersville is located in Kern County
    • Petersburg ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Petersburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg
      • Petersburg is located in Kern County
      • Petersburg has also been known as:
      • Greenhorn
    • Lake Isabella
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Silver City ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
      • Silver City is located in Kern County
    • Glennville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Miracle Hot Springs
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miracle Hot Springs
      • Miracle Hot Springs is located in Kern County
      • Former name for Miracle Hot Springs:
      • Hobo Hot Springs
      • Miracle Hot Springs has also been known as:
      • Air Compress Springs
      • Clear Creek Hot Springs
      • Compressor Hot Springs
    • Bodfish
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Tulare County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shirley Meadows, with the one closest to Shirley Meadows listed first.
    • Panorama Heights
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panorama Heights
      • Panorama Heights is located in Tulare County
    • Poso Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poso Park
      • Poso Park is located in Tulare County
    • Sugarloaf Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugarloaf Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugarloaf Village
      • Sugarloaf Village is located in Tulare County
    • Posey
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • South Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Lake
      • South Lake is located in Tulare County
    • Pine Flat
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Flat
      • Pine Flat is located in Tulare County
    • California Hot Springs
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Roads End ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roads End
      • Roads End is located in Tulare County
      • Former name for Roads End:
      • Pascoe's Pack Station
      • Roads End has also been known as:
      • Roads End Resort
    • White River ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White River
      • White River is located in Tulare County
    • Ponderosa
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponderosa
      • Ponderosa is located in Tulare County
    • Camp Nelson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Cedar Slope
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Slope
      • Cedar Slope is located in Tulare County

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

Newspapers Published in Shirley Meadows ...

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 12 newspapers that have been published in the area around Shirley Meadows.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Shirley Meadows, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Shirley Meadows.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Shirley Meadows:

Cemeteries Near Shirley Meadows ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shirley Meadows.

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 Shirley Meadows covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Keyesville Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Kern River Valley Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Kern River Valley Cemetery is located between<5> the communities of Wofford Heights and Kernville.  The cemetery lies less than 2 miles<3> to the northeast of Wofford Heights.
    • The Kern River Valley Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Old Kernville Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kern River Valley Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8092 <4>
  • Palmer Family Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Old Havilah Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Old Havilah Cemetery is located in the vicinity of Havilah
    • The Old Havilah Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Havilah Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Havilah Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1982323 <4>
  • Pauls Place Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Blue Mtn. Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Weringer Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Tailholt Boot Hill Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Tailholt Boot Hill Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<6>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tailholt Boot Hill Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2312993 <4>
  • White River Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Onyx Indian Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Onyx Indian Cemetery is located outside and to the southwest of Onyx.
    • The Onyx Indian Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Indian Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Onyx Indian Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8065 <4>
  • Galley Mtn. Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...

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 Shirley Meadows in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Shirley Meadows.

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

  • Kernville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Havilah
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havilah
    • Havilah is located in Kern County
  • Woody
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Weldon
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • White River ‑ Historic
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White River
    • White River is located in Tulare County
  • Onyx
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Caliente
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)

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

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

The official website for Kern County: www.co.kern.ca.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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.
<3>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- Shirley Meadows) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shirley Meadows. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.7130, Longitude: -118.5593    
<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>To help visualize the location of the cemetery, we've drawn a straight line between the communities of Wofford Heights and Kernville. The cemetery can be found near that line and roughly halfway between the two communities. Remember that this is just an approximate location.
<6>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.
<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 Shirley Meadows, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024