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 Whitney Portal (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 Whitney Portal. 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 Whitney Portal ...
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.
Prior to its current name of Whitney Portal, it was known as Hunter Flat.
Whitney Portal has also been known as: Hunters Camp.
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 doctors and 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.
Whitney Portal is located in Inyo 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 Inyo County: Fresno, Kern, Mono, San Bernardino, Tulare, Clark (NV), Esmeralda (NV) & Nye (NV).
Below are the counties that are near Whitney Portal. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Whitney Portal:
- Inyo County (The home county of Whitney Portal)
- The following are listed by their distance from Whitney Portal, with the one closest to Whitney Portal listed first.
- Lone Pine Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Pine Creek
- Lone Pine Creek is located in Inyo County
- Alabama Hills
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alabama Hills
- Alabama Hills is located in Inyo County
- Lone Pine
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Pine
- Lone Pine is located in Inyo County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lone Pine <1>
- Boulder Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder Creek
- Boulder Creek is located in Inyo County
- Lone Pine Station ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Pine Station
- Lone Pine Station is located in Inyo County
- Lone Pine Station has also been known as:
- Mount Whitney
- Whitney
- Owenyo ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast) - Mount Whitney Station ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mount Whitney Station. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Whitney Station
- Mount Whitney Station is located in Inyo County
- Manzanar ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast) - Bartlett
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartlett
- Bartlett is located in Inyo County
- Alico ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alico
- Alico is located in Inyo County
- Independence
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
- Independence is located in Inyo County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Independence <1>
- Reward ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reward
- Reward is located in Inyo County
- Fresno County
- The following are listed by their distance from Whitney Portal, with the one closest to Whitney Portal listed first.
- Kanawyers ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanawyers
- Kanawyers is located in Fresno County
- Cedar Grove
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
- Cedar Grove is located in Fresno County
- Tulare County
- Silver City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
- Silver City is located in Tulare County
- Silver City
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Whitney Portal, see our County-by-County Page for Whitney Portal.
Newspapers Published in Whitney Portal ...
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 18 newspapers that have been published in the area around Whitney Portal.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Whitney Portal, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Whitney Portal.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Whitney Portal:
- Websites specific to California
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Website for the California State Archives
- Pages specific to Inyo County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Fresno County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Tulare County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Fresno County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for California
- Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of California
- Cyndi's List
- Cemeteries of California
- Cemeteries of Inyo County
- FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of California
- Find-A-Grave: Home Page
- Interment.net
- Cemeteries of California
- Cemeteries of Inyo County
Cemeteries Near Whitney Portal ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Whitney Portal.
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 Whitney Portal covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Whitney Portal, with the one closest to Whitney Portal listed first.
- Lone Pine Indian Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- To give a relative sense of its location, the Lone Pine Indian Cemetery is located outside and to the southwest of Lone Pine.
- The Lone Pine Indian Cemetery has also been known as:
- Indian Cemetery of Lone Pine
- Indian Cemetery
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lone Pine Indian Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2515229 <5>
- 1872 Earthquake Victims Graveyard
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- To give a relative sense of its location, the 1872 Earthquake Victims Graveyard is located outside and to the northwest of Lone Pine.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the 1872 Earthquake Victims Graveyard
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2417930 <5>
- Lone Pine Pioneer Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- To give a relative sense of its location, the Lone Pine Pioneer Cemetery is located outside and to the southeast of Lone Pine.
- The Lone Pine Pioneer Cemetery has also been known as:
- Pioneer Cemetery
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lone Pine Pioneer Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8275 <5>
- Mt. Whitney Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mt. Whitney Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Lone Pine.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Whitney Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8186 <5>
- Depot Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Depot Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Depot Cemetery is located outside and to the northeast of Lone Pine.
- The Depot Cemetery has also been known as:
- Old Lone Pine Cemetery
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Depot Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8232 <5>
- Manzanar Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- To give a relative sense of its location, the Manzanar Cemetery is located between<6> the communities of Lone Pine and Independence. The cemetery lies 5 miles [8 km]<4> to the south of Independence.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Manzanar Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2367166 <5>
- Independence Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- To give a relative sense of its location, the Independence Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Independence.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Independence Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8058 <5>
- Old Independence Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- To give a relative sense of its location, the Old Independence Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Independence.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Independence Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8231 <5>
- Camp Independence Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Camp Independence Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Camp Independence Cemetery is located in Independence.
- The Camp Independence Cemetery has also been known as:
- Ft. Independence Cemetery
- Indian Cemetery
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Camp Independence Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2217265 <5>
- Cerro Gordo / Swansea Cemetery
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Cerro Gordo / Swansea Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Cerro Gordo / Swansea Cemetery is located outside and to the east of Keeler.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cerro Gordo / Swansea Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2217260 <5>
- Keeler Cemetery
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Keeler Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Keeler Cemetery is located outside and to the southeast of Keeler.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Keeler Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2296914 <5>
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.<7>
While we didn't find Whitney Portal in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Whitney Portal.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Whitney Portal, with the one closest to Whitney Portal listed first.
- Lone Pine
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Pine
- Lone Pine is located in Inyo County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lone Pine <1>
- Lone Pine Station ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Pine Station
- Lone Pine Station is located in Inyo County
- Lone Pine Station has also been known as:
- Mount Whitney
- Whitney
- Owenyo ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast) - Mount Whitney Station ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mount Whitney Station. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Whitney Station
- Mount Whitney Station is located in Inyo County
- Manzanar ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast) - Alico ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alico
- Alico is located in Inyo County
- Independence
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
- Independence is located in Inyo County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Independence <1>
- Dolomite ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dolomite
- Dolomite is located in Inyo County
- Mock ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east) - Kearsarge ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kearsarge
- Kearsarge is located in Inyo County
- Former names for Kearsarge:
- Citrus
- Kearsarge Station
- Kearsarge ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kearsarge
- Kearsarge is located in Inyo County
- Former names for Kearsarge:
- Citrus
- Kearsarge Station
- Bend City ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north) - Continue List (7 more) ...
- Tramway ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east) - San Carlos ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for San Carlos. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Carlos
- San Carlos is located in Inyo County
- Swansea ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swansea
- Swansea is located in Inyo County
- Swansea has also been known as:
- Swansea Landing
- Tramway ‑ Historic
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Whitney Portal. See our List of 1890's Communities around Whitney Portal.
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Whitney Portal. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Inyo County: www.inyocounty.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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Whitney Portal) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Whitney Portal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.5890, Longitude: -118.2261 |
| <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> | To help visualize the location of the cemetery, we've drawn a straight line between the communities of Lone Pine and Independence. The cemetery can be found near that line and roughly halfway between the two communities. Remember that this is just an approximate location. |
| <7> | 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 Whitney Portal, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |