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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 Vista (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 Vista. 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 Vista ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Valley Vista: Valley Vis.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Valley Vista. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Valley Vista.

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

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

  • Riverside County     (The home county of Valley Vista)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Valley Vista, with the one closest to Valley Vista listed first.
    • Winchester
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Homeland
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Hemet
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Hemet is located in Riverside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemet
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 85,161 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hemet <1>
    • Nuevo
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Romoland
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • East Hemet
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • East Hemet is located in Riverside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Hemet
    • Lakeview
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Lakeview is located in Riverside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
    • San Jacinto
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Menifee
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Sun City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Gilman Hot Springs
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Gilman Hot Springs is located in Riverside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilman Hot Springs
    • Perris
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Perris is located in Riverside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perris
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 79,011 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perris <1>
    • Auld ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Auld is located in Riverside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auld
  • Orange County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Valley Vista, with the one closest to Valley Vista listed first.
    • Trabuco Highlands
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Trabuco Highlands is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trabuco Highlands
    • Trabuco Canyon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • San Bernardino County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Valley Vista, with the one closest to Valley Vista listed first.
    • Yucaipa
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Yucaipa is located in San Bernardino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yucaipa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,833 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Yucaipa <1>
    • Plymouth Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Plymouth Village is located in San Bernardino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth Village
    • Eastbern ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Eastbern is located in San Bernardino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastbern
    • Mentone
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Oak Glen
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Redlands
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Redlands is located in San Bernardino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redlands
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 72,271 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Redlands <1>
    • University Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • University Village is located in San Bernardino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Village
    • Bryn Mawr
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Loma Linda
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Lugonia ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Lugonia is located in San Bernardino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lugonia
    • Grand Terrace
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Mound City ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Mound City is located in San Bernardino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mound City
    • Forest Falls
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
  • San Diego County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Valley Vista, with the one closest to Valley Vista listed first.
    • Rainbow
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Rainbow is located in San Diego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainbow
    • Pala
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Fallbrook
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • DeLuz
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • DeLuz is located in San Diego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeLuz
    • Oak Grove
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Oak Grove is located in San Diego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Pauma Valley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Valley Vista ...

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

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 Valley Vista - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • San Jacinto Valley Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Jacinto Valley Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the San Jacinto Valley Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Hemet.
    • The San Jacinto Valley Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Hemet Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #376454 <2>
  • Menifee Valley Memorial Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Perris Valley Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Sunnyslope Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Wildomar Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Mt. View Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Elsinore Valley Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Riverside National Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Laurel Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Temecula Public Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temecula Public Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Temecula Public Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Temecula.
    • The Temecula Public Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Temecula Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1759791 <2>
  • Continue List   (29 more) ...
    • Sunnyslope Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • San Gorgonio Memorial Park
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Hillside Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)

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>

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

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

  • Murrieta
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Banning
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Idyllwild
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
  • Redlands
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Redlands is located in San Bernardino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redlands
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 72,271 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Redlands <1>
  • Eastbern ‑ Historic
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Eastbern is located in San Bernardino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastbern
  • Mentone
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Rainbow
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Rainbow is located in San Diego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainbow
  • Riverside
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • Lugonia ‑ Historic
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Lugonia is located in San Bernardino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lugonia
  • Mound City ‑ Historic
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Mound City is located in San Bernardino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mound City
  • Pala
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
  • Victoria
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Victoria is located in San Bernardino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victoria
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Colton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Colton is located in San Bernardino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,661 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colton <1>
    • Fallbrook
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • DeLuz
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • DeLuz is located in San Diego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeLuz

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

Newspapers Published in Valley Vista ...

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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around Valley Vista.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Valley Vista, 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 Valley Vista.

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 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 Vista:

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- Valley Vista) 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 Valley Vista, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.