California Gazetteers

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Gazetteers

Online Gazetteers

• FamilySearch Places
• Spanish and Indian Place Names in California Nellie Van De Grift Sanchez, Spanish and Indian Place Names in California, A.M. Robertson - San Francisco CA 1914
• Index to California Places in the Schellens Collection - San Mateo County Genealogical Society
  
• Humboldt State University - California Gazetteer
• California Hometown Locator 
• Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
• California State Gazetteer and Business Directory California State Gazetteer and Business Directory, San Francisco : R.L. Polk & Co. 1888
• The Centennial Year Book of Alameda County, California William Halley, The Centennial Year Book of Alameda County, California : containing a summary of the discovery and settlement of California, a description of the Contra Costa under Spanish, Mexican, and American rule, an account of the organization and settlement of Alameda County ... also, a gazetteer of each township, useful local and general statistical information, appropriate for the present time, to which are added biographical sketches of prominent pioneers and public men, Oakland, Cal[if.] : W. Halley 1876
• California history nugget California History Nugget, Berkeley : University of California, California State Historical Association, 1924-1940
• The Negro Trail Blazers of California Delilah Leontium Beasley, The Negro Trail Blazers of California, Los Angeles, Cal. [Times mirror printing and binding house] 1919

Print Only Gazetteers

• California Gazetteer California Gazetteer, Wilmington, Delaware : American Historical Publications, c1985
• California geographic names information system alphabetical list United States, Office of Geographic Research, Branch of Geographic Names. California geographic names information system alphabetical list, Reston, Virginia : U.S. Geological Survey, 1988
• California place names : a geographical dictionary Erwin G. Gudde, California place names : a geographical dictionary, Los Angeles, California : University of California Press, c1949
• History of California post offices, 1849-1990 / H. E. Salley H. E. Salley, E. L. Patera, History of California post offices, 1849-1990 / H. E. Salley : includes branches and stations, rural free delivery routes, Navy numbered brances, highway and railway post offices, edited by Edward L. Patera, [Lake Grove, Oregon] : Depot, The, c1991
• Northern California atlas & gazetteer DeLorme Mapping Company, Northern California atlas & gazetteer, Freeport, Maine : DeLorme Mapping, ©1995

Why Use Gazetteers

A gazetteer is a dictionary of place-names. Gazetteers list or describe towns and villages, parishes, states, populations, rivers and mountains, and other geographical features. They usually include only the names of places that existed at the time the gazetteer was published. Within a specific geographical area, the place-names are listed in alphabetical order, similar to a dictionary. You can use a gazetteer to locate the places where your family lived and to determine the civil and religious jurisdictions over those places.

There are many places within a state with similar or identical place-names. You will need to use a gazetteer to identify the specific town where your ancestor lived, the state the town was or is in, and the jurisdictions where records about the person was kept.

Gazetteer Contents

Gazetteers may also provide additional information about towns, such as:

• Different religious denominations
• Schools, colleges, and universities
• Major manufacturers, canals, docks, and railroad stations
• The population size.
• Boundaries of civil jurisdiction.
• Ecclesiastical jurisdiction(s)
• Longitude and latitude.
• Distances and direction from other from cities.
• Schools, colleges, and universities.
• Denominations and number of churches.
• Historical and biographical information on some individuals (usually high-ranking or famous individuals)