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The Commemorative Quarter for California





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 Solana Beach (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 Solana Beach. 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 Solana Beach ...

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 Solana Beach: Solana Bch.

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 northeast 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 north.

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 north 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.

Solana Beach 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 Solana Beach. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Solana Beach:

  • San Diego County     (The home county of Solana Beach)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Solana Beach, with the one closest to Solana Beach listed first.
    • Cardiff-by-the-Sea
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Del Mar
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Encinitas
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Fairbanks Ranch
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairbanks Ranch have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairbanks Ranch
      • Fairbanks Ranch is located in San Diego County
    • Rancho Santa Fe
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Leucadia
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Mira Mesa
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake San Marcos
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake San Marcos have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake San Marcos
      • Lake San Marcos is located in San Diego County
    • University City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for University City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University City
      • University City is located in San Diego County
    • Rancho Bernardo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Elvira
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • La Jolla
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Solana Beach ...

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 359 newspapers that have been published in the area around Solana Beach.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Solana Beach. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Solana Beach and those printed in the larger area surrounding Solana Beach.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<3> of Solana Beach.

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 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 Solana Beach:

Cemeteries Near Solana Beach ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Solana Beach.

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 Solana Beach covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Olivenhain Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Olivenhain Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Olivenhain Cemetery
  • Carmel Valley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • El Camino Memorial Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Miramar National Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • San Marcos Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Eternal Hills Memorial Park
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Dearborn Memorial Park
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Oak Hill Memorial Park
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Hill Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Memorial Park
  • San Luis Rey Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the San Luis Rey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the San Luis Rey Cemetery
  • Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Home of Peace Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Mt. Hope Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (16 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.<5>

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

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

  • Del Mar
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Encinitas
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Leucadia
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Sorrento
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sorrento have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sorrento
    • Sorrento is located in San Diego County
  • Selwyn ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Selwyn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selwyn
    • Selwyn is located in San Diego County
  • Linda Vista ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Linda Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linda Vista
    • Linda Vista is located in San Diego County
  • Carlsbad
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • San Marcos
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Pacific Beach
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacific Beach
    • Pacific Beach is located in San Diego County
  • Poway
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poway
    • Poway is located in San Diego County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 49,246 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Poway <1>
  • Escondido
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Buena
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buena have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena
    • Buena is located in San Diego County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Escondido Junction
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Escondido Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Escondido Junction
      • Escondido Junction is located in San Diego County
    • Twin Oaks
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Oaks
      • Twin Oaks is located in San Diego County
    • Buena Vista
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buena Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
      • Buena Vista 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 Solana Beach. See our List of 1890's Communities around Solana Beach.

The official website for Solana Beach: www.ci.solana-beach.ca.us/

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

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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Solana Beach) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Solana Beach. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.9920, Longitude: -117.2707    
<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 Solana Beach, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024