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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Soto. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Soto to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Soto, please Contact Us.

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 Soto (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 Soto. 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.

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 and doctors 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Soto is historic, it would have been located within present day Butte 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 Butte County: Colusa, Glenn, Plumas, Sutter, Tehama & Yuba.

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

  • Butte County     (The home county of Soto)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Soto, with the one closest to Soto listed first.
    • Nord ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Nord is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nord
    • Chico
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Chico is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chico
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 102,867 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chico <2>
    • Dayton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Dayton is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayton
    • Forest Ranch
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Forest Ranch is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Ranch
    • Durham
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • De Sabla
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • De Sabla is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Sabla
    • Irish Town
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Irish Town is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irish Town
    • Nimshew
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Nimshew is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimshew
    • Paradise Pines
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Paradise Pines is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Pines
    • Paradise
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Magalia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Powellton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Powellton is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powellton
  • Glenn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Soto, with the one closest to Soto listed first.
    • Capay
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Capay is located in Glenn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capay
    • Hamilton City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Orland
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Artois
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Glenn
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Willows
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Newville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Newville is located in Glenn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newville
    • Butte City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Tehama County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Soto, with the one closest to Soto listed first.
    • Vina
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Kirkwood
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Kirkwood is located in Tehama County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkwood
    • Corning
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Los Molinos
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Tehama
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Gerber
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Proberta
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Rawson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Rawson is located in Tehama County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawson
    • Rancho Tehama Reserve
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Flournoy
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Red Bluff
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Bend
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Bend is located in Tehama County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bend

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

Cemeteries Near Soto ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Soto.

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 Soto - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Pine Creek Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Creek Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Pine Creek Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 11 miles [17.7 km]<3> to the northwest of Chico.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8268 <4>
  • Vina Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vina Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Vina Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<3> to the northeast of Vina.
    • The Vina Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Carter Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7884 <4>
  • Kirkwood Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Corning Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Sunset Hill Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Orland Masonic Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Tehama Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tehama Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Tehama Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<3> to the west of Tehama.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8399 <4>
  • Oddfellows Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Catholic Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Orland Catholic Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orland Catholic Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Orland Catholic Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Orland.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7887 <4>
  • Orland Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Monroeville Pioneer Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (37 more) ...
    • Mechoopda Indian Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Chico Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chico Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Chico Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Chico.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7900 <4>
    • Graves Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graves Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Graves Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 6 miles [9.7 km]<3> to the northwest of Orland.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7996 <4>

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.

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

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

  • Cana
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Cana is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cana
  • Vina
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Anita
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Anita is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anita
  • Kirkwood
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Kirkwood is located in Tehama County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkwood
  • Nord ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Nord is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nord
  • Corning
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Richfield
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Richfield is located in Tehama County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richfield
  • Tehama
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Orland
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Chico
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Chico is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chico
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 102,867 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chico <2>
  • Proberta
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Henleyville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Henleyville is located in Tehama County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henleyville
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Forest Ranch
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Forest Ranch is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Ranch
    • Durham
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Rawson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Rawson is located in Tehama County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawson

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

Newspapers Published in Soto ...

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 44 newspapers that have been published in the area around Soto.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Soto, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Soto.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Soto:

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Soto, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Soto) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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.