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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 Spence (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 Spence. 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 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.

Spence is located in Monterey 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 Monterey County: Fresno, Kings, San Benito, San Luis Obispo & Santa Cruz.

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

  • Monterey County     (The home county of Spence)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spence, with the one closest to Spence listed first.
    • Chualar
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Spreckels
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Salinas
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Serra Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Serra Village is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Serra Village
    • Boronda
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Boronda is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boronda
    • Ambler Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Ambler Park is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ambler Park
    • Santa Rita
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Santa Rita is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Rita
    • Gonzales
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Prunedale
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Carmel Valley Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Marina
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Marina is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marina
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,836 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marina <1>
    • Castroville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Fort Ord Village ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Fort Ord Village is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Ord Village
  • San Benito County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spence, with the one closest to Spence listed first.
    • San Juan Bautista
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Paicines
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Ridgemark
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Ridgemark is located in San Benito County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgemark
    • Hollister
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Tres Pinos
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • River Oaks
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • River Oaks is located in San Benito County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Oaks
    • Pinnacles
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Pinnacles is located in San Benito County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinnacles
    • Dunneville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Dunneville is located in San Benito County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunneville
    • San Benito
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • San Benito is located in San Benito County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Benito
  • Santa Clara County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spence, with the one closest to Spence listed first.
    • Sargent ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Sargent is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sargent
    • Gilroy
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Gilroy is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilroy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,831 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilroy <1>
    • Rucker
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Rucker is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rucker
  • Santa Cruz County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spence, with the one closest to Spence listed first.
    • Colache Town
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Colache Town is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colache Town
    • Watsonville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Interlaken
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Interlaken is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Interlaken
    • Freedom
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Strongs Mobile Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Amesti
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Amesti is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amesti
    • La Selva Beach
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Aptos Hills - Larkin Valley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Corralitos
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Rio del Mar
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Day Valley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Day Valley is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Day Valley

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

Cemeteries Near Spence ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Spence.

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

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

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

  • Yamat Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Chinese Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chinese Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Chinese Cemetery is located in Salinas.
  • Monterey County Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Gonzales Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Queen of Heaven Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Mission Memorial Park
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Hambey Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • San Juan Bautista Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Castroville Public Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castroville Public Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Castroville Public Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the south of Moss Landing.
    • The Castroville Public Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Castroville Cemetery
    • Castroville / Moss Landing Cemetery
    • Moss Landing Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7885 <2>
  • El Encinal Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • San Carlos Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Paicines Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Soledad Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Spence had railroad service and no post office.

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

  • Chualar
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Salinas
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Natividad
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Natividad is located in Monterey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natividad
  • Gonzales
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Santa Rita
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Santa Rita is located in Monterey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Rita
  • Blanco
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Blanco is located in Monterey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanco
  • Castroville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Seaside
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Paicines
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Elkhorn
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Elkhorn is located in Monterey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
  • Soledad
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Tres Pinos
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Hollister
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Monterey
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Pacific Grove
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Spence ...

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 99 newspapers that have been published in the area around Spence.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Spence, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Spence.

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 websites either 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 Spence:

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