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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 Watson (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. 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 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.

Watson is located in Tehama 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 Tehama County: Butte, Glenn, Mendocino, Plumas, Shasta & Trinity.

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

  • Tehama County     (The home county of Watson)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • Paskenta
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Rancho Tehama Reserve
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rancho Tehama Reserve have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rancho Tehama Reserve
      • Rancho Tehama Reserve is located in Tehama County
    • Flournoy
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Red Bluff
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Hooker
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
      • Hooker is located in Tehama County
    • Rawson
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rawson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawson
      • Rawson is located in Tehama County
    • Proberta
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Corning
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Gerber
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Bend
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bend
      • Bend is located in Tehama County
    • Tehama
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Glenn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • Newville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newville
      • Newville is located in Glenn County
    • Copper City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Copper City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copper City
      • Copper City is located in Glenn County
    • Lone Star ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
      • Lone Star is located in Glenn County
  • Shasta County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • Aiken Gulch ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Aiken Gulch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aiken Gulch
      • Aiken Gulch is located in Shasta County
      • Former names for Aiken Gulch:
      • Camp Creek
      • Camp Gulch
    • Beegum
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beegum have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beegum
      • Beegum is located in Shasta County
    • Platina
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Gas Point ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gas Point
      • Gas Point is located in Shasta County
    • Smithville ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Smithville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithville
      • Smithville is located in Shasta County
    • Knob
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knob have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knob
      • Knob is located in Shasta County
      • Knob has also been known as:
      • Knob Gulch
    • Agland ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Agland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agland
      • Agland is located in Shasta County
    • Ono
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ono
      • Ono is located in Shasta County
    • Olinda
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olinda
      • Olinda is located in Shasta County
  • Trinity County

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

Newspapers Published in Watson ...

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 65 newspapers that have been published in the area around Watson.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Watson, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Watson.

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 Watson:

Cemeteries Near Watson ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Watson.

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

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

  • Lowrey Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Paskenta Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Paskenta Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Paskenta Cemetery
  • Elmore Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elmore Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elmore Cemetery
  • Newville Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Chrome Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Chrome Cemetery is located 9 miles [14.5 km]<4> to the south of Elk Creek.
    • The Chrome Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Milsap Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chrome Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8162 <5>
  • Millsap Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Millsap Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Millsap Cemetery
  • St. Herman of Alaska Monastery Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
  • Watson Grave
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Watson Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Watson Grave
  • Pinckney Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
  • Harrison Gulch Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Grindstone Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Graves Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Tehama Cemetery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tehama Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tehama 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>

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

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

  • Paskenta
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Newville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newville
    • Newville is located in Glenn County
  • Henleyville
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Henleyville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henleyville
    • Henleyville is located in Tehama County
  • Red Bluff
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
  • Hooker
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
    • Hooker is located in Tehama County
  • Rawson
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rawson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawson
    • Rawson is located in Tehama County
  • Gas Point ‑ Historic
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gas Point
    • Gas Point is located in Shasta County
  • Richfield
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richfield
    • Richfield is located in Tehama County
  • Proberta
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Corning
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Tehama
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Ono
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ono
    • Ono is located in Shasta County

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

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

The official website for Tehama County: www.co.tehama.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>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.
<3>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.
<4>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 from Point A (ie- Watson) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Watson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.0538, Longitude: -122.6878       In this case, the coordinates for Watson have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Watson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024