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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

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

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

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 Witter Springs: Witter Spgs. (or less commonly used: Witter Spngs. or Witter Sprngs.)

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 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Witter Springs is historic, it would have been located within present day Lake 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 Lake County: Colusa, Glenn, Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma & Yolo.

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

  • Lake County     (The home county of Witter Springs)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Witter Springs, with the one closest to Witter Springs listed first.
    • Saratoga Springs
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saratoga Springs
      • Saratoga Springs is located in Lake County
    • Upper Lake
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Robinson Rancheria
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Rancheria
      • Robinson Rancheria is located in Lake County
    • North Lakeport
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lakeport
      • North Lakeport is located in Lake County
    • Nice
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Lakeport
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Lucerne
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Finley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Bartlett Springs
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bartlett Springs. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartlett Springs
      • Bartlett Springs is located in Lake County
    • Kelseyville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Soda Bay
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Glenhaven
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Colusa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Witter Springs, with the one closest to Witter Springs listed first.
    • Stonyford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Lodoga
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodoga
      • Lodoga is located in Colusa County
    • Leesville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leesville
      • Leesville is located in Colusa County
  • Mendocino County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Witter Springs, with the one closest to Witter Springs listed first.
    • Hemlock Ranch
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hemlock Ranch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemlock Ranch
      • Hemlock Ranch is located in Mendocino County
      • Hemlock Ranch has also been known as:
      • Hemlock
    • Talmage
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Potter Valley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Calpella
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • The Forks
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Forks
      • The Forks is located in Mendocino County
    • Ukiah
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ukiah
      • Ukiah is located in Mendocino County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,883 people
      • Ukiah has also been known as:
      • Ukiah City
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ukiah <2>
    • Redwood Valley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Largo ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Largo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Largo
      • Largo is located in Mendocino County
    • Hopland
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Orrs Springs
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orrs Springs
      • Orrs Springs is located in Mendocino County
    • Boonville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Hermitage ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hermitage. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermitage
      • Hermitage is located in Mendocino County
  • Sonoma County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Witter Springs, with the one closest to Witter Springs listed first.
    • Preston
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Preston. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
      • Preston is located in Sonoma County
    • Cloverdale
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Mercuryville ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mercuryville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercuryville
      • Mercuryville is located in Sonoma County

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

Cemeteries Near Witter Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Witter Springs.

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

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

  • Upper Lake Rancheria Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Robinson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Upper Lake Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Hartley Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Potter Valley Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Potter Valley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Potter Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Indian Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pinoleville Rancheria Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Ukiah Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ukiah Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ukiah Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Hopland Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hopland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hopland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kelsay Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Kelseyville Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Stone & Kelsey Gravesite
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Henry Alter Gravesite
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Henry Alter Gravesite
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Henry Alter Gravesite. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2507467 <4>
    • Little Lake Cemetery
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Little Lake Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Little Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<5> 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.

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

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

  • Upper Lake
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Hemlock Ranch
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hemlock Ranch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemlock Ranch
    • Hemlock Ranch is located in Mendocino County
    • Hemlock Ranch has also been known as:
    • Hemlock
  • Pomo
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pomo have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pomo
    • Pomo is located in Mendocino County
  • Talmage
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Lakeport
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Ukiah
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ukiah
    • Ukiah is located in Mendocino County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,883 people
    • Ukiah has also been known as:
    • Ukiah City
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ukiah <2>
  • Potter Valley
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Calpella
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Largo ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Largo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Largo
    • Largo is located in Mendocino County
  • Bartlett Springs
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bartlett Springs. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartlett Springs
    • Bartlett Springs is located in Lake County
  • Hopland
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Kelseyville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Pieta
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pieta have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pieta
      • Pieta is located in Mendocino County
    • Highland Springs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Highland Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Springs
      • Highland Springs is located in Lake County
    • Hough Springs
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hough Springs. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hough Springs
      • Hough Springs is located in Lake County

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

Newspapers Published in Witter Springs ...

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 68 newspapers that have been published in the area around Witter Springs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Witter Springs, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Witter Springs.

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 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 Witter Springs:

The official website for Lake County: www.co.lake.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 Witter Springs, 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>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>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>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.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Witter Springs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Witter Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.1910, Longitude: -122.9936       In this case, the coordinates for Witter Springs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025