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 Watson Crossing (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 Watson Crossing. 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 Watson Crossing ...
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 Watson Crossing: Watson Xing.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Watson Crossing. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Watson Crossing.
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 hospitals 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.
Watson Crossing is located in Placer 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 Placer County: El Dorado, Nevada, Sacramento, Sutter, Yuba, Carson City (NV), Douglas (NV) & Washoe (NV).
Below are the counties that are near Watson Crossing. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Watson Crossing:
- Placer County (The home county of Watson Crossing)
- The following are listed by their distance from Watson Crossing, with the one closest to Watson Crossing listed first.
- Last Chance ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Last Chance is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Last Chance
- Emigrant Gap
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Big Bend
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Big Bend is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend
- Casa Loma
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Casa Loma is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casa Loma
- Greekstore
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Greekstore is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greekstore
- Alta
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Michigan Bluff
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Michigan Bluff is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan Bluff
- Dutch Flat
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Gold Run
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Iowa Hill
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Secret Town
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Secret Town is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Secret Town
- Soda Springs
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Soda Springs is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soda Springs
- El Dorado County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watson Crossing, with the one closest to Watson Crossing listed first.
- Quintette
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Quintette is located in El Dorado County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quintette
- Georgetown
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Fornis
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Fornis is located in El Dorado County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fornis
- Greenwood
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Tahoma
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Garden Valley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Fresh Pond
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Fresh Pond is located in El Dorado County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fresh Pond
- Kelsey
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Kelsey is located in El Dorado County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelsey
- Pollock Pines
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Cool
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Nevada County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watson Crossing, with the one closest to Watson Crossing listed first.
- Kingvale
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Kingvale is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingvale
- Baltimore Town
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Baltimore Town is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltimore Town
- Soda Springs
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Washington
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Meadow Lake ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Meadow Lake is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Lake
- Summit City ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Summit City is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit City
- You Bet ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- You Bet is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for You Bet
- Norden
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Marsh Mill
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Marsh Mill is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marsh Mill
- Graniteville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Graniteville is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graniteville
- Scotts Flat
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Scotts Flat is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotts Flat
- Donner Woods
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Donner Woods is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donner Woods
- Shasta County
- Bear Valley ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Bear Valley is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Valley
- Sierra County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watson Crossing, with the one closest to Watson Crossing listed first.
- Alleghany
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Forest
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Forest is located in Sierra County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest
- Loganville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Loganville is located in Sierra County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loganville
- Sierra City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Downieville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Goodyears Bar
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Sierraville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Sattley
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Yuba County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watson Crossing, with the one closest to Watson Crossing listed first.
- Camptonville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Garden Valley ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Garden Valley is located in Yuba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Valley
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Watson Crossing, see our County-by-County Page for Watson Crossing.
Cemeteries Near Watson Crossing ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Watson Crossing.
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 Watson Crossing - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Watson Crossing covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Watson Crossing, with the one closest to Watson Crossing listed first.
- Dutch Flat Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutch Flat Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Dutch Flat Cemetery is located in the vicinity of Alta
- Deadwood Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Iowa Hill Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Foresthill Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Foresthill Community Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Pioneer Grave
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Pioneer Grove Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Josephine Mine Cemetery
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Pioneer Graves Cemetery
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Colfax Cemetery
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Colfax Indian Cemetery
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Deer Creek Cemetery
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Deer Creek Cemetery is located outside and to the east of Nevada City.
- The Deer Creek Cemetery has also been known as:
- New Odd Fellows Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2400769 <3>
- Continue List (22 more) ...
- Forest View Cemetery
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Alleghany Cemetery
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
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 Watson Crossing in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Watson Crossing.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Watson Crossing, with the one closest to Watson Crossing listed first.
- Westville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Westville is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westville
- Blue Canyon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Blue Canyon is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Canyon
- Emigrant Gap
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Cisco
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Cisco is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cisco
- Alta
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Towle
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Towle is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Towle
- Maybert ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Maybert is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maybert
- Michigan Bluff
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Michigan Bluff is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan Bluff
- Dutch Flat
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Gold Run
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Washington
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- You Bet ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- You Bet is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for You Bet
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Graniteville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Graniteville is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graniteville
- Yankee Jims
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Yankee Jims is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Jims
- Chicago Park
(19 miles [30.6 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 Watson Crossing. See our List of 1890's Communities around Watson Crossing.
Newspapers Published in Watson Crossing ...
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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Watson Crossing.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Watson Crossing, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Watson Crossing.
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 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 Watson Crossing:
- Websites specific to California
- Pages specific to Placer County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- El Dorado County
- Nevada County
- Shasta County
- Sierra County
- Yuba County
- 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Watson Crossing) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Watson Crossing, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |