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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 Sumner Hill (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 Sumner Hill. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Sumner Hill is located in Madera 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 Madera County: Fresno, Mariposa, Merced & Mono.

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

  • Madera County     (The home county of Sumner Hill)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sumner Hill, with the one closest to Sumner Hill listed first.
    • Millerton ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Millerton is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
    • Bonadelle Ranchos - Madera Ranchos
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • O'Neals
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Parksdale
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Parksdale is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parksdale
    • Yosemite Lakes Park
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Yosemite Lakes Park is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yosemite Lakes Park
      • Yosemite Lakes Park has also been known as:
      • Yosemite Lakes
    • Parkwood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Parkwood is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkwood
    • Madera Acres
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Madera Acres is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madera Acres
    • Madera
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Knowles ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Knowles is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowles
    • Knowles Junction
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Knowles Junction is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowles Junction
    • Raymond
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Raymond is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
    • La Vina
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • La Vina is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Vina
  • Fresno County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sumner Hill, with the one closest to Sumner Hill listed first.
    • Friant
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Gordon
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Gordon is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
    • Pinedale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Clovis
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Fresno
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Tarpey Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Tarpey Village is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarpey Village
    • Herndon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Herndon is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herndon
    • Highway City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Highway City is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highway City
    • Muscatel
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Muscatel is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscatel
    • Sentinel ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Sentinel is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sentinel
    • Prather
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Barstow
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Barstow is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barstow

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

Cemeteries Near Sumner Hill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sumner Hill.

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 Sumner Hill - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Winchell Cove Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Winchell Cove Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winchell Cove Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Winchell Cove Cemetery is located outside and to the east of Friant.
  • Clovis Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Academy Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Auberry Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Redbank Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Ararat Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Beth Israel Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Liberty Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Fresno County Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (36 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.<3>

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

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

  • Fresno
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Herndon
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Herndon is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herndon
  • Muscatel
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Muscatel is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscatel
  • Letcher ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Letcher is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Letcher
  • Sentinel ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Sentinel is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sentinel
  • Auberry
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Malaga
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Malaga is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malaga
  • Lone Star
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Lone Star is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
  • Knowles ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Knowles is located in Madera County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowles
  • Tollhouse
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • La Vina
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • La Vina is located in Madera County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Vina
  • Sanger
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Raymond
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Raymond is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
    • Easton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Oleander
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Oleander is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oleander

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

Newspapers Published in Sumner Hill ...

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 85 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sumner Hill.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sumner Hill, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sumner Hill.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start 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 Sumner Hill:

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 Sumner Hill, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Sumner Hill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.