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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 South Sacramento (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 South Sacramento. 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 South Sacramento ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for South Sacramento: S. Sacramento

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 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.

South Sacramento is located in Sacramento 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 Sacramento County: Amador, Contra Costa, Placer, San Joaquin, Solano, Sutter & Yolo.

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

  • Sacramento County     (The home county of South Sacramento)
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Sacramento, with the one closest to South Sacramento listed first.
    • Parkway - South Sacramento
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Florin
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Florin is located in Sacramento County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florin
    • Perkins
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Perkins is located in Sacramento County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perkins
    • Sutterville ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Sutterville is located in Sacramento County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sutterville
    • Freeport
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Freeport is located in Sacramento County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
    • Sacramento
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Arden
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Arden is located in Sacramento County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arden
    • Rosemont
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Rosemont is located in Sacramento County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosemont
    • La Riviera
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • La Riviera is located in Sacramento County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Riviera
    • Mayhew
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Mayhew is located in Sacramento County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayhew
    • Laguna West - Lakeside
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Laguna
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Laguna is located in Sacramento County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laguna
    • Vineyard
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Vineyard is located in Sacramento County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineyard
  • Amador County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Sacramento, with the one closest to South Sacramento listed first.
    • Carbondale ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Carbondale is located in Amador County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbondale
    • May ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • May is located in Amador County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May
    • Ione
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Ione is located in Amador County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ione
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,326 people
      • Former names for Ione:
      • Bedbug
      • Freeze Out
      • Hardscrabble
      • Ione City
      • Ione Valley
      • Jone City
      • Jone Valley
      • Rickeyville
      • Woosterville
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ione <1>
    • Camanche Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Camanche Village is located in Amador County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camanche Village
  • El Dorado County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Sacramento, with the one closest to South Sacramento listed first.
    • Crescent Ridge Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • La Cresta Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • La Cresta Village is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Cresta Village
    • Park Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Park Village is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Village
    • Ridgeview Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Ridgeview Village is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeview Village
    • Clarksville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Clarksville is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksville
    • Crown Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Crown Village is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crown Village
    • El Dorado Hills
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Governors Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Governors Village is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Governors Village
    • Lakeridge Oaks
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Lakeridge Oaks is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeridge Oaks
    • Mormon Tavern ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Mormon Tavern is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mormon Tavern
    • Oak Ridge Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Oak Ridge Village is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Ridge Village
    • Saint Andrews Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Saint Andrews Village is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Andrews Village
    • Stonegate Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Stonegate Village is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonegate Village
  • Placer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Sacramento, with the one closest to South Sacramento listed first.
    • Riego
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Riego is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riego
    • Roseville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Rocklin
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Whitney ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Whitney is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitney
    • Granite Bay
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Loomis
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Lincoln
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Clayton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Clayton is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
    • Penryn
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Virginiatown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Virginiatown is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginiatown
    • Newcastle
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • San Joaquin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Sacramento, with the one closest to South Sacramento listed first.
    • Mokelumne City ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Mokelumne City is located in San Joaquin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mokelumne City
    • Thornton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Taison
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Taison is located in San Joaquin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taison
    • North Woodbridge
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • North Woodbridge is located in San Joaquin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Woodbridge
    • South Woodbridge
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • South Woodbridge is located in San Joaquin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Woodbridge
    • Woodbridge
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Acampo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Terminous
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Terminous is located in San Joaquin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terminous
    • Lodi
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Lodi is located in San Joaquin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodi
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 68,186 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lodi <1>
    • Henderson Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Henderson Village is located in San Joaquin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henderson Village
    • Clements
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Lockeford
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Victor
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Solano County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Sacramento, with the one closest to South Sacramento listed first.
    • Oxford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Oxford is located in Solano County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxford
    • Dixon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Dixon is located in Solano County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,440 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dixon <1>
    • Batavia
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Batavia is located in Solano County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Batavia
    • Elmira
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Allendale
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Allendale is located in Solano County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allendale
    • Rio Vista
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Hartley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Hartley is located in Solano County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartley
    • Leisure Town
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Leisure Town is located in Solano County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leisure Town
    • Solano City ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Solano City is located in Solano County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solano City
    • Cannon ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Cannon is located in Solano County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon
    • Travis Field
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Travis Field is located in Solano County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Travis Field
    • Vacaville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Sutter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Sacramento, with the one closest to South Sacramento listed first.
    • Pleasant Grove
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Nicolas
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Nicolaus
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Robbins
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Yolo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Sacramento, with the one closest to South Sacramento listed first.
    • Broderick
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • West Sacramento
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bryte
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Clarksburg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Greendale
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Greendale is located in Yolo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greendale
    • Swingle
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Swingle is located in Yolo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swingle
    • El Macero
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Davis
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Plainfield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Plainfield is located in Yolo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainfield
    • Woodland
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Knights Landing
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Yolo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Winters
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near South Sacramento ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of South Sacramento.

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 South Sacramento - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Home of Peace Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Sacramento Memorial Lawn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • St. Rose Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Elder Creek Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Sacramento County Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • East Lawn Memorial Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Sacramento City Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sacramento City Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Sacramento City Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Sacramento.
    • The Sacramento City Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Sacramento Historic City Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #184890 <2>
  • City Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Masonic Lawn Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Odd Fellows Lawn Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (59 more) ...
    • San Joaquin Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • South East Lawn Memorial Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Masonic Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)

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.<3>

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

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

  • Florin
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Florin is located in Sacramento County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florin
  • Perkins
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Perkins is located in Sacramento County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perkins
  • Brighton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Brighton is located in Sacramento County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brighton
  • Freeport
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Freeport is located in Sacramento County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
  • Sacramento
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Manlove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Manlove is located in Sacramento County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manlove
  • Walsh Station
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Walsh Station is located in Sacramento County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walsh Station
  • Mayhew
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Mayhew is located in Sacramento County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayhew
  • Arcade ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Arcade is located in Sacramento County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcade
  • Elk Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Franklin
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Franklin is located in Sacramento County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
  • McConnel
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • McConnel is located in Sacramento County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McConnel
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Webster
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Webster is located in Yolo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
    • Swingle
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Swingle is located in Yolo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swingle
    • Courtland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in South Sacramento ...

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 43 newspapers that have been published in the area around South Sacramento.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of South Sacramento, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for South Sacramento.

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 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 South Sacramento:

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 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.
<3>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 South Sacramento, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- South Sacramento) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.