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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 West Athens (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 West Athens. 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 West Athens ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for West Athens: W. Athens

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 northwest 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 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.

West Athens is located in Los Angeles 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 Los Angeles County: Kern, Orange, San Bernardino & Ventura.

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

  • Los Angeles County     (The home county of West Athens)
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Athens, with the one closest to West Athens listed first.
    • South Los Angeles
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Los Angeles
      • South Los Angeles is located in Los Angeles County
    • Westmont
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westmont
      • Westmont is located in Los Angeles County
    • Willowbrook
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willowbrook have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willowbrook
      • Willowbrook is located in Los Angeles County
    • Gardena
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardena
      • Gardena is located in Los Angeles County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 58,498 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gardena <2>
    • West Rancho Dominguez
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Rancho Dominguez have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Rancho Dominguez
      • West Rancho Dominguez is located in Los Angeles County
    • Alondra Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alondra Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alondra Park
      • Alondra Park is located in Los Angeles County
    • Hawthorne
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Hacienda Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hacienda Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hacienda Village
      • Hacienda Village is located in Los Angeles County
    • Inglewood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lawndale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Del Aire
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Del Aire have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Del Aire
      • Del Aire is located in Los Angeles County
    • Lennox
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Orange County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Athens, with the one closest to West Athens listed first.
    • La Palma
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Los Alamitos
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Rossmoor
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rossmoor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossmoor
      • Rossmoor is located in Orange County
    • Cypress
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Seal Beach
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Buena Park
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Surfside
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Barber City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barber City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barber City
      • Barber City is located in Orange County
    • Stanton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Sunset Beach
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • La Habra
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Green Lantern Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Lantern Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Lantern Village
      • Green Lantern Village is located in Orange County

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

Newspapers Published in West Athens ...

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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Athens.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Athens, there are papers which were published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Athens.

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 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 West Athens:

Cemeteries Near West Athens ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Athens.

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

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

  • Inglewood Park Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Roosevelt Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Lincoln Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lincoln Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lincoln Memorial Park
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woodlawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodlawn Cemetery
  • Pacific Crest Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Angeles Abbey Memorial Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Hillside Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Angelus Rosedale Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Angelus Rosedale Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Los Angeles.
    • The Angelus Rosedale Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Rosedale Cemetery
    • Rosedale Memorial Park
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Angelus Rosedale Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8309 <4>
  • Wilmington Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Wilmington Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Wilmington.
    • The Wilmington Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Historic Wilmington Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wilmington Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #152636 <4>
  • All Souls Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the All Souls Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the All Souls Cemetery
  • Long Beach Forest Lawn Park Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • The Long Beach Forest Lawn Park Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery - Long Beach
    • Forest Lawn Memorial Park - Long Beach
    • Long Beach Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Long Beach Forest Lawn Park Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #180662 <4>
  • Continue List   (68 more) ...
    • Old Downey Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Downey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Downey Cemetery
    • Mt. Carmel Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Park Lawn Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)

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.<5>

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

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

  • South Los Angeles
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Los Angeles
    • South Los Angeles is located in Los Angeles County
  • Gardena
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardena
    • Gardena is located in Los Angeles County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 58,498 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gardena <2>
  • Moneta
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moneta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moneta
    • Moneta is located in Los Angeles County
  • Inglewood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Hyde Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hyde Park
    • Hyde Park is located in Los Angeles County
  • Florence
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
    • Florence is located in Los Angeles County
  • Compton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compton
    • Compton is located in Los Angeles County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 93,967 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Compton <2>
  • Lynwood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynwood
    • Lynwood is located in Los Angeles County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 68,508 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lynwood <2>
  • Redondo Beach
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Dominguez
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dominguez have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dominguez
    • Dominguez is located in Los Angeles County
  • Clement Junction
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clement Junction
    • Clement Junction is located in Los Angeles County
  • Clearwater
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clearwater have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearwater
    • Clearwater is located in Los Angeles County
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Vinvale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinvale
      • Vinvale is located in Los Angeles County
    • Los Angeles
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Wilmington
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmington
      • Wilmington is located in Los Angeles County

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

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

The official website for Los Angeles County: www.lacounty.info/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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- West Athens) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Athens. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.9233, Longitude: -118.3034       In this case, the coordinates for West Athens have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<5>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 West Athens, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024