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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 Smiths Ferry (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 Smiths Ferry. 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 Smiths Ferry ...

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 Smiths Ferry: Smiths Fry. (or less commonly used: Smiths Frry.)
  • While the name of this community is Smiths Ferry, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Smiths Ferry may originally have been Smith's Ferry.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Smiths Ferry might be written as Smith Ferry.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Smiths Ferry. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Smiths Ferry.

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 hospitals and 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.

Smiths Ferry is located in Fresno 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 Fresno County: Inyo, Kings, Madera, Merced, Mono, San Benito & Tulare.

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

  • Fresno County     (The home county of Smiths Ferry)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Ferry, with the one closest to Smiths Ferry listed first.
    • Reedley
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Parlier
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Kingsburg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Orange Cove
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Minkler
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Minkler is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minkler
    • Del Rey
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Del Rey is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Del Rey
    • Selma
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Selma is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,370 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Selma <2>
    • Sanger
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Gravesboro
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Gravesboro is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravesboro
    • Fowler
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Lone Star
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Lone Star is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
    • Conejo
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Conejo is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conejo
  • Kings County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Ferry, with the one closest to Smiths Ferry listed first.
    • Hardwick
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Hardwick is located in Kings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardwick
    • Hanford
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Home Garden
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Home Garden is located in Kings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Garden
    • Hub
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Hub is located in Kings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hub
    • Armona
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Lemoore
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Madera County
    • Millerton ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Millerton is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
  • Tulare County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Ferry, with the one closest to Smiths Ferry listed first.
    • Dinuba
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Sultana
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • London
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • London is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for London
    • Orosi
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Traver
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Cutler
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • East Orosi
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • East Orosi is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Orosi
    • Wimp
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Wimp is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wimp
    • Yettem
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Goshen
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Taurusa
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Taurusa is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taurusa
    • Ivanhoe
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Smiths Ferry ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Smiths Ferry.

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 Smiths Ferry - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Reedley Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Mendocino Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • S D A Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Smith Mtn. Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Floral Memorial Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Odd Fellows Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Kingsburg Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • North Selma Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • West Selma Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Sanger Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Del Rey Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Del Rey Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Del Rey Cemetery is located outside and to the west of Del Rey.
    • The Del Rey Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Prairie Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1997625 <3>
  • Continue List   (46 more) ...
    • Acres Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Hazelton Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Fowler Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)

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

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

  • Reedley
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Tokay
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Tokay is located in Tulare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tokay
  • Selma
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Selma is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,370 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Selma <2>
  • Sanger
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Traver
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Monson
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Monson is located in Tulare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monson
  • Orosi
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Fowler
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Wildflower
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Wildflower is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildflower
  • Lone Star
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Lone Star is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
  • Yokuts
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Malaga
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Malaga is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malaga
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Oleander
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Oleander is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oleander
    • Goshen
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Taurusa
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Taurusa is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taurusa

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

Newspapers Published in Smiths Ferry ...

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 73 newspapers that have been published in the area around Smiths Ferry.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Smiths Ferry, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Smiths Ferry.

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 Smiths Ferry:

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 Smiths Ferry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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- Smiths Ferry) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.