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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 Valley Springs (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 Valley Springs. 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 Valley Springs ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Valley Springs: Valley Spgs. (or less commonly used: Valley Spngs. or Valley Sprngs.)

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 doctors 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.

Valley Springs is located in Calaveras 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 Calaveras County: Alpine, Amador, San Joaquin, Stanislaus & Tuolumne.

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

  • Calaveras County     (The home county of Valley Springs)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Valley Springs, with the one closest to Valley Springs listed first.
    • Campo Seco
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Burson
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Petersburg ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Petersburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg
      • Petersburg is located in Calaveras County
      • Petersburg has also been known as:
      • Greasertown
    • Rancho Calaveras
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rancho Calaveras have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rancho Calaveras
      • Rancho Calaveras is located in Calaveras County
    • Oregon Bar ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Oregon Bar. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oregon Bar
      • Oregon Bar is located in Calaveras County
    • Jenny Lind
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenny Lind
      • Jenny Lind is located in Calaveras County
    • San Andreas
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Lost City ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lost City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost City
      • Lost City is located in Calaveras County
    • Wallace
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Big Bar
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bar
      • Big Bar is located in Calaveras County
    • Mokelumne Hill
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Milton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
      • Milton is located in Calaveras County
  • Amador County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Valley Springs, with the one closest to Valley Springs listed first.
    • Camanche Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Camanche Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camanche Village
      • Camanche Village is located in Amador County
    • Jackson
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Martell
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Electra ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Electra have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Electra
      • Electra is located in Amador County
    • Ione
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ione
      • Ione is located in Amador County
      • 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>
    • Sutter Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Amador City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Drytown
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Pine Grove
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Carbondale ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carbondale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbondale
      • Carbondale is located in Amador County
    • May ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for May have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May
      • May is located in Amador County
    • Plymouth
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • El Dorado County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Valley Springs, with the one closest to Valley Springs listed first.
    • Mount Aukum
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Fair Play
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Sacramento County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Valley Springs, with the one closest to Valley Springs listed first.
    • Herald
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Rancho Murieta
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Galt
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galt
      • Galt is located in Sacramento County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26,551 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Galt <1>
    • Sloughhouse
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Wilton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Arno ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arno have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arno
      • Arno is located in Sacramento County
    • McConnel
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McConnel have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McConnel
      • McConnel is located in Sacramento County
  • San Joaquin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Valley Springs, with the one closest to Valley Springs listed first.
    • Clements
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Lockeford
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Linden
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Peters
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Farmington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Victor
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Holden ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holden have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holden
      • Holden is located in San Joaquin County
    • Walthal
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walthal have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walthal
      • Walthal is located in San Joaquin County
    • Acampo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Lodi
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodi
      • Lodi is located in San Joaquin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 68,186 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lodi <1>
    • Morada
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morada have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morada
      • Morada is located in San Joaquin County
    • Woodbridge
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Stanislaus County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Valley Springs, with the one closest to Valley Springs listed first.
    • Adela
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adela
      • Adela is located in Stanislaus County
    • East Oakdale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Oakdale
      • East Oakdale is located in Stanislaus County
    • Knights Ferry
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Oakdale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakdale
      • Oakdale is located in Stanislaus County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23,228 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oakdale <1>
  • Tuolumne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Valley Springs, with the one closest to Valley Springs listed first.
    • Tuttletown
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuttletown
      • Tuttletown is located in Tuolumne County
    • Columbia Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Columbia Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbia Village
      • Columbia Village is located in Tuolumne County
    • Columbia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Rawhide
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawhide
      • Rawhide is located in Tuolumne County
    • Squabbletown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Squabbletown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squabbletown
      • Squabbletown is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jamestown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Martinez
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Martinez have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinez
      • Martinez is located in Tuolumne County
    • Yosemite Junction
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yosemite Junction
      • Yosemite Junction is located in Tuolumne County
    • Sonora
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • East Sonora
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Sonora have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Sonora
      • East Sonora is located in Tuolumne County
    • Greenley Oaks
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenley Oaks
      • Greenley Oaks is located in Tuolumne County
    • Stent
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stent
      • Stent is located in Tuolumne County

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

Newspapers Published in Valley Springs ...

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 82 newspapers that have been published in the area around Valley Springs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Valley Springs, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Valley Springs.

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 Valley Springs:

Cemeteries Near Valley Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Valley Springs.

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

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

  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery
  • Catholic Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Catholic Cemetery
  • Peoples Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Peoples Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Peoples Cemetery
  • Dean Family Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Dean Family Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Dean Family Cemetery is located 4 miles [6.4 km]<4> to the southwest of Milton.
    • The Dean Family Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Wilson Burial Ground
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dean Family Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2503319 <5>
  • Milton Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Milton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Milton Cemetery
  • Jesus Maria Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Jackson Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jackson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jackson Cemetery
  • St. Sava Servian Orthodox Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Catholic Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Catholic Cemetery
  • Ione Protestant - Community Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ione Protestant - Community Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ione Protestant - Community Cemetery
  • City Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • New Protestant Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Protestant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Protestant Cemetery
  • Continue List   (65 more) ...
    • Catholic Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • IOOF Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the IOOF Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the IOOF Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Sutter Creek.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the IOOF Cemetery
    • Clements Glen View Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clements Glen View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clements Glen View 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Valley Springs had a population of 298 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Campo Seco
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Burson
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Lancha Plana ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lancha Plana have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancha Plana
    • Lancha Plana is located in Amador County
  • Camanche ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Camanche have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camanche
    • Camanche is located in Calaveras County
    • Former names for Camanche:
    • Clay's Bar
    • Limerrick
  • Jenny Lind
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenny Lind
    • Jenny Lind is located in Calaveras County
  • San Andreas
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Wallace
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Mokelumne Hill
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Milton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
    • Milton is located in Calaveras County
  • Jackson
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Ione
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ione
    • Ione is located in Amador County
    • 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>
  • Bellota
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bellota have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellota
    • Bellota is located in San Joaquin County
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Sutter Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Rich Gulch
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rich Gulch have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Gulch
      • Rich Gulch is located in Calaveras County
    • Clements
      (14 miles [22.5 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 Valley Springs. See our List of 1890's Communities around Valley Springs.

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Valley Springs. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Calaveras County: www.co.calaveras.ca.us/

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

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>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.
<3>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.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Valley Springs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Valley Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1919, Longitude: -120.8284    
<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>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 Valley Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024