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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 Temecula (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 Temecula. 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 Temecula ...

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 have occurred.

Temecula was originally named Rancho California

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.

A Few Details for Temecula ...

While it's still very early in our research, we found that:

  • It was incorporated on December 1, 1989.

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 and hospitals 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.

Temecula is located in Riverside 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 Riverside County: La Paz (AZ), Imperial, Orange, San Bernardino & San Diego.

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

  • Riverside County     (The home county of Temecula)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Temecula, with the one closest to Temecula listed first.
    • Lake Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Village
      • Lake Village is located in Riverside County
    • Rainbow Canyon Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rainbow Canyon Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainbow Canyon Village
      • Rainbow Canyon Village is located in Riverside County
    • Murrieta Hot Springs
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Murrieta Hot Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murrieta Hot Springs
      • Murrieta Hot Springs is located in Riverside County
    • Dutch Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dutch Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutch Village
      • Dutch Village is located in Riverside County
    • Auld ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Auld have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auld
      • Auld is located in Riverside County
    • Murrieta
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Wildomar
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Sage
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sage
      • Sage is located in Riverside County
    • Menifee
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Winchester
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Sedco Hills
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sedco Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sedco Hills
      • Sedco Hills is located in Riverside County
    • Sun City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Aguanga
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Orange County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Temecula, with the one closest to Temecula listed first.
    • Trabuco Highlands
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trabuco Highlands have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trabuco Highlands
      • Trabuco Highlands is located in Orange County
    • Coto de Caza
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Rancho Santa Margarita
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • San Clemente
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Trabuco Canyon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Ladera Ranch
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Las Flores
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Las Flores have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Flores
      • Las Flores is located in Orange County
  • San Diego County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Temecula, with the one closest to Temecula listed first.
    • Rainbow
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainbow
      • Rainbow is located in San Diego County
    • Pala
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Fallbrook
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Bonsall
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Pauma Valley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Hidden Meadows
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hidden Meadows have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Meadows
      • Hidden Meadows is located in San Diego County
    • Lawrence Welk Resort Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lawrence Welk Resort Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrence Welk Resort Village
      • Lawrence Welk Resort Village is located in San Diego County
    • Valley Center
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Palomar Mountain
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Vista
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vista
      • Vista is located in San Diego County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 100,636 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vista <2>
    • San Luis Rey
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Holcomb Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holcomb Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holcomb Village
      • Holcomb Village is located in San Diego County
    • Oceanside
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Temecula ...

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 66 newspapers that have been published in the area around Temecula.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Temecula. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Temecula and those printed in the larger area surrounding Temecula.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3> of Temecula.

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 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 Temecula:

Cemeteries Near Temecula ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Temecula.

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

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

  • Laurel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Laurel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Laurel Cemetery
  • Fallbrook Masonic Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Fallbrook Masonic Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Fallbrook.
    • The Fallbrook Masonic Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Malsonic Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fallbrook Masonic Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8139 <4>
  • Indian Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Cemetery
  • Pala Tribal Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Wildomar Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wildomar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wildomar Cemetery
  • Fallbrook Odd Fellows Community Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Radec Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Pauma Valley Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pauma Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pauma Valley Cemetery
  • Elsinore Valley Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Bartholomew Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Bartholomew Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Bartholomew Cemetery
  • Valley Center Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • San Jacinto Valley Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Perris Valley Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Perris Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Perris Valley Cemetery
    • Indian Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Cemetery
    • San Luis Rey Cemetery
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the San Luis Rey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the San Luis Rey Cemetery

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.<5>

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

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

  • Rainbow
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainbow
    • Rainbow is located in San Diego County
  • Murrieta
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Pala
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Fallbrook
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • DeLuz
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for DeLuz have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeLuz
    • DeLuz is located in San Diego County
  • Bonsall
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Valley Center
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Ysidora ‑ Historic
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ysidora have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ysidora
    • Ysidora is located in San Diego County
  • Oak Grove
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Oak Grove is located in San Diego County
  • San Luis Rey
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Vista
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vista
    • Vista is located in San Diego County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 100,636 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vista <2>
  • Buena Vista
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buena Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
    • Buena Vista is located in San Diego County
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Twin Oaks
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Oaks
      • Twin Oaks is located in San Diego County
    • Buena
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buena have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena
      • Buena is located in San Diego County
    • Las Flores ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Las Flores have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Flores
      • Las Flores is located in San Diego County

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

The official website for Temecula: www.cityoftemecula.org/

The official website for Riverside County: www.co.riverside.ca.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Temecula) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Temecula. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5081, Longitude: -117.1247    
<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.
<5>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 Temecula, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024