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 Virginia Colony (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 Virginia Colony. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Virginia Colony is located in Ventura 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 Ventura County: Kern, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo & Santa Barbara.
Below are the counties that are near Virginia Colony. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Virginia Colony:
- Ventura County (The home county of Virginia Colony)
- The following are listed by their distance from Virginia Colony, with the one closest to Virginia Colony listed first.
- Moorpark
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Mountclef Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Mountclef Village is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountclef Village
- Simi Valley
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Lagol
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Lagol is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lagol
- Bardsdale
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Bardsdale is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bardsdale
- Greenwich Village
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Greenwich Village is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwich Village
- Newbury Park
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Somis
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Buckhorn
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Buckhorn is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckhorn
- Fillmore
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Thousand Oaks
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Casa Conejo
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Casa Conejo is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casa Conejo
- Leisure Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Leisure Village is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leisure Village
- Los Angeles County
- The following are listed by their distance from Virginia Colony, with the one closest to Virginia Colony listed first.
- Westlake Village
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Agoura Hills
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Agoura
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bell Canyon
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Chatsworth Lake Manor
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Chatsworth Lake Manor is located in Los Angeles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatsworth Lake Manor
- West Hills
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- West Hills is located in Los Angeles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hills
- Hidden Hills
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Canoga Park
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Canoga Park is located in Los Angeles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canoga Park
- Chatsworth
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Chatsworth is located in Los Angeles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatsworth
- Mentryville ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Mentryville is located in Los Angeles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mentryville
- Val Verde
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Calabasas
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Stevenson Ranch
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Virginia Colony, see our County-by-County Page for Virginia Colony.
Cemeteries Near Virginia Colony ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Virginia Colony.
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 Virginia Colony - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Virginia Colony covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Virginia Colony, with the one closest to Virginia Colony listed first.
- Olson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Assumption Catholic Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Bardsdale Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bardsdale Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Bardsdale Cemetery is located outside and to the southwest of Bardsdale.
- Piru Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Conejo Mtn. Memorial Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Mt. Sinai Memorial Park, Simi Valley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Oakwood Memorial Park
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Santa Paula Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Hueneme Masonic Cemetery
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hueneme Masonic Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Hueneme Masonic Cemetery is located outside and to the east of Port Hueneme.
- The Hueneme Masonic Cemetery has also been known as:
- Masonic Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8145 <2>
- Japanese Cemetery
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Santa Clara Cemetery
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Will Geer Estate
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Will Geer Estate
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Will Geer Estate is located less than 2 miles<3> to the northeast of Topanga.
- The Will Geer Estate has also been known as:
- Will Geer Shakespeare Garden
- Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #640478 <2>
- Eternal Valley Memorial Park
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Ivy Lawn Memorial Park
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
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 Virginia Colony in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Virginia Colony.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Virginia Colony, with the one closest to Virginia Colony listed first.
- Simi Valley
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Bardsdale
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Bardsdale is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bardsdale
- Newbury Park
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Fillmore
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Buckhorn
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Buckhorn is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckhorn
- Piru
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Sespe Village
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Sespe Village is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sespe Village
- Santa Paula
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Springville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Springville is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springville
- Chatsworth
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Chatsworth is located in Los Angeles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatsworth
- Saticoy
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Saticoy is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saticoy
- Newhall
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Continue List (11 more) ...
- Castaic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Montalvo
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Montalvo is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montalvo
- Saugus
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Virginia Colony. See our List of 1890's Communities around Virginia Colony.
Newspapers Published in Virginia Colony ...
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 105 newspapers that have been published in the area around Virginia Colony.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Virginia Colony, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Virginia Colony.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Virginia Colony:
- Websites specific to California
- Pages specific to Ventura County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cemetery Information and Directories for California
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 '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- Virginia Colony) 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 Virginia Colony, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |