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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

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

We've added Spruce to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Spruce, 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 Spruce (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 Spruce. 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 northwest 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 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 west 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 Spruce is historic, it would have been located within present day Placer 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 Placer County: El Dorado, Nevada, Sacramento, Sutter, Yuba, Carson City (NV), Douglas (NV) & Washoe (NV).

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

  • Placer County     (The home county of Spruce)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spruce, with the one closest to Spruce listed first.
    • Big Bend
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend
      • Big Bend is located in Placer County
    • Donner
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Donner have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donner
      • Donner is located in Placer County
    • Soda Springs
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Soda Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soda Springs
      • Soda Springs is located in Placer County
    • Andover ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Andover have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andover
      • Andover is located in Placer County
    • Emigrant Gap
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Greekstore
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greekstore
      • Greekstore is located in Placer County
    • Last Chance ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Last Chance. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Last Chance
      • Last Chance is located in Placer County
    • Tahoe City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Carnelian Bay
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Dollar Point
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dollar Point have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dollar Point
      • Dollar Point is located in Placer County
    • Lake Forest
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Forest
      • Lake Forest is located in Placer County
    • Tahoe Pines
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tahoe Pines
      • Tahoe Pines is located in Placer County
    • Casa Loma
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casa Loma
      • Casa Loma is located in Placer County
  • El Dorado County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spruce, with the one closest to Spruce listed first.
    • Tahoma
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Quintette
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quintette
      • Quintette is located in El Dorado County
  • Nevada County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spruce, with the one closest to Spruce listed first.
    • Kingvale
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingvale
      • Kingvale is located in Nevada County
    • Soda Springs
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Norden
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Donner Lake
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Donner Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donner Lake
      • Donner Lake is located in Nevada County
    • Donner Woods
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donner Woods
      • Donner Woods is located in Nevada County
    • Baltimore Town
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Baltimore Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltimore Town
      • Baltimore Town is located in Nevada County
    • Meadow Lake ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Meadow Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Lake
      • Meadow Lake is located in Nevada County
    • Summit City ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summit City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit City
      • Summit City is located in Nevada County
    • Prosser Lake Heights
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prosser Lake Heights
      • Prosser Lake Heights is located in Nevada County
    • Truckee
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Polaris
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Polaris. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polaris
      • Polaris is located in Nevada County
    • Marsh Mill
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marsh Mill
      • Marsh Mill is located in Nevada County
    • Graniteville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graniteville
      • Graniteville is located in Nevada County
  • Plumas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spruce, with the one closest to Spruce listed first.
    • Whitehawk
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whitehawk have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitehawk
      • Whitehawk is located in Plumas County
    • Clio
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Valley Ranch
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valley Ranch have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Ranch
      • Valley Ranch is located in Plumas County
  • Shasta County
    • Bear Valley ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bear Valley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Valley
      • Bear Valley is located in Shasta County
  • Sierra County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spruce, with the one closest to Spruce listed first.
    • Sierraville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Sattley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Sierra City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Loganville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Loganville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loganville
      • Loganville is located in Sierra County
    • Calpine
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Calvada ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Calvada. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvada
      • Calvada is located in Sierra County
    • Alleghany
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Forest
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest
      • Forest is located in Sierra County
    • Loyalton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Downieville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Goodyears Bar
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Douglas County (NV)
    • Glenbrook
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Washoe County (NV)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spruce, with the one closest to Spruce listed first.
    • Crystal Bay
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Bronco ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bronco have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bronco
      • Bronco is located in Washoe County (NV)
      • Bronco has also been known as:
      • Bronca
    • Incline Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Tyrolian Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tyrolian Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyrolian Village
      • Tyrolian Village is located in Washoe County (NV)
    • Verdi
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Verdi - Mogul
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Verdi - Mogul. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verdi - Mogul
      • Verdi - Mogul is located in Washoe County (NV)
    • Mogul
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mogul
      • Mogul is located in Washoe County (NV)

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

Cemeteries Near Spruce ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Spruce.

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

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

  • Truckee Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Truckee Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Truckee Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sierraville Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Sierra City Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sierra City Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Sierra City Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Sierra City Cemetery is located outside and to the west of Sierra City.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2276304 <5>
  • Sattley Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
  • Dutch Flat Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dutch Flat Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Dutch Flat Cemetery is located in the vicinity of Alta
  • Deadwood Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Deadwood Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Deadwood Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Deadwood Cemetery is located 4 miles [6.4 km]<6> to the west of Foresthill.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2501041 <5>
  • Alleghany Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Pioneer Grave
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Grave
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Forest City Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Pioneer Grove Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Iowa Hill Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Iowa Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Iowa Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (9 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.

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

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

  • Cisco
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cisco have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cisco
    • Cisco is located in Placer County
  • Truckee
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Emigrant Gap
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Maybert ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maybert have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maybert
    • Maybert is located in Nevada County
  • Blue Canyon
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blue Canyon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Canyon
    • Blue Canyon is located in Placer County
  • Westville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westville
    • Westville is located in Placer County
  • Tahoe City
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Boca
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boca have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boca
    • Boca is located in Nevada County
  • Graniteville
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graniteville
    • Graniteville is located in Nevada County
  • Sierra City
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Sattley
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
  • Washington
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Alta
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Towle
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Towle have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Towle
      • Towle is located in Placer County
    • Bronco
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bronco. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bronco
      • Bronco is located in Nevada County

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

Newspapers Published in Spruce ...

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 32 newspapers that have been published in the area around Spruce.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Spruce, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Spruce.

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 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 Spruce:

The official website for Placer County: www.placer.ca.gov/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/

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 Spruce, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<5>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.
<6>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 from Point A (ie- Spruce) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Spruce. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3157, Longitude: -120.4285       In this case, the coordinates for Spruce have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025