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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

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

We've added Wildwood to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Wildwood, 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 Wildwood (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 Wildwood. 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 doctors and 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Wildwood is historic, it would have been located within present day Sonoma 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 Sonoma County: Contra Costa, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa & Solano.

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

  • Sonoma County     (The home county of Wildwood)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wildwood, with the one closest to Wildwood listed first.
    • Kenwood
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Glen Ellen
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Eldridge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Melita
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melita
      • Melita is located in Sonoma County
    • Boyes Hot Springs
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Fetters Hot Springs - Agua Caliente
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • El Verano
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Sonoma
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Montgomery Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montgomery Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montgomery Village
      • Montgomery Village is located in Sonoma County
    • Penngrove
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Rohnert Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Bellevue
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellevue
      • Bellevue is located in Sonoma County
    • Santa Rosa
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Contra Costa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wildwood, with the one closest to Wildwood listed first.
    • Sobrante
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sobrante. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sobrante
      • Sobrante is located in Contra Costa County
    • Bayview
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bayview have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayview
      • Bayview is located in Contra Costa County
    • Rodeo
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Tormey
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tormey. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tormey
      • Tormey is located in Contra Costa County
    • Valona
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valona
      • Valona is located in Contra Costa County
    • Crockett
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Gateley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gateley
      • Gateley is located in Contra Costa County
    • Hercules
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hercules
      • Hercules is located in Contra Costa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26,221 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hercules <2>
    • Pinole
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinole
      • Pinole is located in Contra Costa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,207 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pinole <2>
    • Tara Hills
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tara Hills
      • Tara Hills is located in Contra Costa County
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wildwood, with the one closest to Wildwood listed first.
    • Middletown
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Hidden Valley Lake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hidden Valley Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Valley Lake
      • Hidden Valley Lake is located in Lake County
  • Marin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wildwood, with the one closest to Wildwood listed first.
    • Black Point - Green Point
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Novato
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Old Town
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
      • Old Town is located in Marin County
    • Tomales
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Ignacio
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ignacio. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ignacio
      • Ignacio is located in Marin County
    • Rafael Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rafael Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rafael Village
      • Rafael Village is located in Marin County
    • Hamlet
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hamlet. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlet
      • Hamlet is located in Marin County
    • Nicks Cove
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicks Cove
      • Nicks Cove is located in Marin County
    • Nicasio
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Dillon Beach
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Marshall
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Millerton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
      • Millerton is located in Marin County
    • Forest Knolls
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Napa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wildwood, with the one closest to Wildwood listed first.
    • Oakville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Rutherford
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Saint Helena
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Yountville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Deer Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Calistoga
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Angwin
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Woodleaf
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodleaf have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodleaf
      • Woodleaf is located in Napa County
    • Union
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
      • Union is located in Napa County
    • Pope Valley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Merazo
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merazo
      • Merazo is located in Napa County
    • Napa
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Napa
      • Napa is located in Napa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 77,032 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Napa <2>
    • Suscol ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Suscol. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suscol
      • Suscol is located in Napa County
      • Suscol has also been known as:
      • Soscol
      • Susqual
  • Solano County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wildwood, with the one closest to Wildwood listed first.
    • Green Valley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Guadalcanal Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guadalcanal Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guadalcanal Village
      • Guadalcanal Village is located in Solano County
    • Mankas Corner
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mankas Corner
      • Mankas Corner is located in Solano County
    • Mare Island ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mare Island. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mare Island
      • Mare Island is located in Solano County
    • Vallejo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Fairfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Suisun City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suisun City
      • Suisun City is located in Solano County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 29,305 people
      • Suisun City has also been known as:
      • Suisun
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Suisun City <2>
    • Vacaville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Wildwood ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wildwood.

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

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

  • Thompson Family Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Thompson Family Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Thompson Family Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
  • Pythian Home Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pythian Home Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pythian Home Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Eldridge Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eldridge Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Eldridge Cemetery is located outside and to the west of Eldridge.
  • Bennett Valley Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bennett Valley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bennett Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Napa Redwood Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Napa Redwood Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Napa Redwood Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Napa Redwood Cemetery is located 8 miles [12.9 km]<5> to the southeast of Napa.
    • The Napa Redwood Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Redwood Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8299 <6>
  • Ner Tamid Jewish Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ner Tamid Jewish Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Ner Tamid Jewish Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Ner Tamid Jewish Cemetery is located outside and to the south of Saint Helena.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2502737 <6>
  • Grace Episcopal Church Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Helena Public Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Helena Public Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Helena Public Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Saint Helena.
    • The St. Helena Public Cemetery has also been known as:
    • St. Helena Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #196296 <6>
  • Mountain Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mountain Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mountain Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Partrick Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Partrick Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Partrick Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Partrick Cemetery is located 6 miles [9.7 km]<5> to the southeast of Napa.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2433832 <6>
  • Calvary Catholic Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (75 more) ...
    • Santa Rosa Calvary Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Santa Rosa Calvary Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Santa Rosa Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Valley Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Valley Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Francis Solano Catholic Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Francis Solano Catholic Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Francis Solano Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.

Wildwood itself is historic and was described in the Rand McNally Atlas as having railroad service and no post office.

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

  • Glen Ellen
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Madrone ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Madrone have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madrone
    • Madrone is located in Sonoma County
  • Yulupa ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yulupa have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yulupa
    • Yulupa is located in Sonoma County
  • Melita
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melita
    • Melita is located in Sonoma County
  • Oakville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Rutherford
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Saint Helena
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Sonoma
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Barro
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barro have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barro
    • Barro is located in Napa County
  • Penngrove
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Buena Vista
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buena Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
    • Buena Vista is located in Sonoma County
  • Yountville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Santa Rosa
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Cotati
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Ely ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ely have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ely
      • Ely is located in Sonoma County

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

Newspapers Published in Wildwood ...

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 43 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wildwood.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wildwood, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wildwood.

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 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 Wildwood:

The official website for Sonoma County: www.sonoma-county.org/

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 Wildwood, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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.
<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- Wildwood) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wildwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.4035, Longitude: -122.5397       In this case, the coordinates for Wildwood have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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: 28 Apr 2025