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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 Van Vleck (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 Van Vleck. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Van Vleck is located in El Dorado 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 El Dorado County: Alpine, Amador, Placer, Sacramento & Douglas (NV).

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

  • El Dorado County     (The home county of Van Vleck)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Van Vleck, with the one closest to Van Vleck listed first.
    • Pacific
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Pacific is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacific
    • Fresh Pond
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Fresh Pond is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fresh Pond
    • Riverton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Riverton is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
    • Pollock Pines
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • White Hall
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • White Hall is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Hall
    • Sportsman Hall ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Sportsman Hall is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sportsman Hall
    • Camino
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Grizzly Flatx
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Newtown
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Newtown is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newtown
    • Pleasant Valley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Pleasant Valley is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
    • Kyburz
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Somerset
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Motor City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Motor City is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Motor City
  • Amador County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Van Vleck, with the one closest to Van Vleck listed first.
    • River Pines
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Kit Carson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Fiddletown
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Volcano
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Kirkwood
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Pioneer
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Pine Grove
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Plymouth
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Amador City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Drytown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Sutter Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Calaveras County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Van Vleck, with the one closest to Van Vleck listed first.
    • Bummerville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Bummerville is located in Calaveras County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bummerville
    • West Point
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Sandy Gulch
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Sandy Gulch is located in Calaveras County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Gulch
    • Wilseyville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Glencoe
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Rail Road Flat
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Placer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Van Vleck, with the one closest to Van Vleck listed first.
    • Greekstore
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Greekstore is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greekstore
    • Michigan Bluff
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Michigan Bluff is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan Bluff
    • Last Chance ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Last Chance is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Last Chance
    • Foresthill
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Yankee Jims
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Yankee Jims is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Jims
    • Tahoma Meadows
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Tahoma Meadows is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tahoma Meadows
    • Homewood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Tahoe Pines
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Tahoe Pines is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tahoe Pines
    • Applegate
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Iowa Hill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Clipper Gap
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Clipper Gap is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clipper Gap
    • Weimar
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Bowman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Van Vleck ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Van Vleck.

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 Van Vleck - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Smith Flat Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Pioneer Grave
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Catholic Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Bennett Memorial Park
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Placerville Union Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Placerville Union Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Placerville Union Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Placerville.
    • The Placerville Union Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Union Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1812538 <2>
  • Indian Diggings Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Andreason Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Pioneer Graves Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Middletown Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Westwood Hills Memorial Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Georgetown Pioneer Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • 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 Van Vleck in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Van Vleck.

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

  • Pacific
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Pacific is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacific
  • Bryants
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Bryants is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryants
  • Grizzly Flatx
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Pleasant Valley
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Pleasant Valley is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
  • Omo Ranch
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Omo Ranch is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omo Ranch
  • Fair Play
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Placerville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Kelsey
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Kelsey is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelsey
  • Garden Valley
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • El Dorado
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Georgetown
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Coloma
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Michigan Bluff
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Michigan Bluff is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan Bluff
    • Lotus
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Nashville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Nashville is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashville

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

Newspapers Published in Van Vleck ...

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 Van Vleck.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Van Vleck, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Van Vleck.

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 Van Vleck:

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 Van Vleck, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Van Vleck) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.