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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Whiskeytown. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Whiskeytown to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Whiskeytown, please Contact Us.

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 Whiskeytown (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 Whiskeytown. 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 Whiskeytown ...

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.

Over the years, Whiskeytown had several name changes:

  • Prior to its current name of Whiskeytown, it was known as Schilling.
  • Before changing to Schilling, it was named Stella.
  • And before that, Stella was named Blair.
  • Whiskeytown was originally named Whiskey Creek

In addition to the above names, Whiskeytown had a past name of Franklin City.

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.

A Few Details for Whiskeytown ...

While it's still very early in our research, we found that:

  • Whiskeytown was settled in 1849.
  • The community was inundated by the Whiskeytown Reservoir (in 1962).

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.

Although our information shows that the community of Whiskeytown is historic, it would have been located within present day Shasta 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 Shasta County: Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Siskiyou, Tehama & Trinity.

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

  • Shasta County     (The home county of Whiskeytown)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whiskeytown, with the one closest to Whiskeytown listed first.
    • Oak Bottom ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Bottom
      • Oak Bottom is located in Shasta County
    • Iron Mountain ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Mountain
      • Iron Mountain is located in Shasta County
    • Fielding ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fielding. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fielding
      • Fielding is located in Shasta County
    • Shasta
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Keswick
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keswick
      • Keswick is located in Shasta County
    • Matheson ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matheson
      • Matheson is located in Shasta County
    • Copley ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Copley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copley
      • Copley is located in Shasta County
      • Former name for Copley:
      • Motion
    • Whitehouse ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whitehouse have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitehouse
      • Whitehouse is located in Shasta County
    • French Gulch
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jillsonville ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jillsonville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jillsonville
      • Jillsonville is located in Shasta County
    • Kilna ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kilna. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kilna
      • Kilna is located in Shasta County
    • Coram ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coram have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coram
      • Coram is located in Shasta County
    • Morrowville ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Morrowville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrowville
      • Morrowville is located in Shasta County
  • Tehama County
    • Hooker
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
      • Hooker is located in Tehama County
  • Trinity County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whiskeytown, with the one closest to Whiskeytown listed first.
    • Deadwood ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deadwood have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deadwood
      • Deadwood is located in Trinity County
    • Lewiston
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Minersville ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minersville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minersville
      • Minersville is located in Trinity County
    • Douglas City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Weaverville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Trinity Center
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Junction City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Carrville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carrville
      • Carrville is located in Trinity County
    • Wildwood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Whiskeytown ...

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 Whiskeytown.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Whiskeytown, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Whiskeytown.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Whiskeytown:

Cemeteries Near Whiskeytown ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Whiskeytown.

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

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

  • Whiskeytown Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Shasta Catholic Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Shasta Catholic Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shasta Catholic Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2354998 <6>
  • Shasta Union Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • French Gulch Catholic Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • French Gulch Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Igo Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Igo Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Igo Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2242774 <6>
  • Middleton Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Middleton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Middleton Cemetery
  • Middletown Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Buckeye Pioneer Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Churntown Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (29 more) ...
    • St. Josephs Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Josephs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Josephs Cemetery
    • Redding Memorial Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Texas Springs Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Texas Springs Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • The Texas Springs Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Upper Texas Springs Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Texas Springs Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2217622 <6>

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.

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

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

  • Shasta
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Copley ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Copley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copley
    • Copley is located in Shasta County
    • Former name for Copley:
    • Motion
  • Hart ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hart have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hart
    • Hart is located in Shasta County
    • Hart has also been known as:
    • Hart Village
    • Hart's Camp
  • French Gulch
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Waugh ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waugh have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waugh
    • Waugh is located in Shasta County
  • Buckeye
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
    • Buckeye is located in Shasta County
  • Igo
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Redding
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Kennett ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kennett have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennett
    • Kennett is located in Shasta County
  • Deadwood ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deadwood have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deadwood
    • Deadwood is located in Trinity County
  • Ono
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ono
    • Ono is located in Shasta County
  • Girvan
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Girvan have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girvan
    • Girvan is located in Shasta County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Morley ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morley
      • Morley is located in Shasta County
    • Lewiston
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Mabel ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mabel have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabel
      • Mabel 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 Whiskeytown. See our List of 1890's Communities around Whiskeytown.

The official website for Shasta County: www.co.shasta.ca.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Whiskeytown, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Whiskeytown) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Whiskeytown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6386, Longitude: -122.5597    
<6>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.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024