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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 Benson Junction (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 Benson Junction. 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 Benson Junction ...

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 Benson Junction: Benson Jct. (or less commonly used: Benson Jctn.)

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Benson Junction is located in Cochise County.

To see how the shape of Arizona's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Cochise County: Graham, Greenlee, Pima, Santa Cruz & Hidalgo (NM).

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

  • Cochise County     (The home county of Benson Junction)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Benson Junction, with the one closest to Benson Junction listed first.
    • Fairbank ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairbank
      • Fairbank is located in Cochise County
    • Contention City ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Contention City. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Contention City
      • Contention City is located in Cochise County
      • Contention City has also been known as:
      • Contention
    • Charleston ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Charleston. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charleston
      • Charleston is located in Cochise County
    • Tombstone
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Saint David
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Huachuca City
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Sierra Vista
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Coronado Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coronado Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coronado Village
      • Coronado Village is located in Cochise County
    • De Anza Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for De Anza Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Anza Village
      • De Anza Village is located in Cochise County
    • Fort Huachuca
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Benson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Signal Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Signal Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Signal Village
      • Signal Village is located in Cochise County
  • Pima County
    • Harrington Place ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Harrington Place. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrington Place
      • Harrington Place is located in Pima County
  • Santa Cruz County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Benson Junction, with the one closest to Benson Junction listed first.
    • Elgin
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Canelo ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Canelo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canelo
      • Canelo is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Former name for Canelo:
      • Canille
    • Sonoita
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Benson Junction ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Benson Junction.

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

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

  • Fairbank Pioneer Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairbank Pioneer Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Fairbank Pioneer Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
  • Tombstone Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tombstone Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Tombstone Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Tombstone.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #513617 <4>
  • Boothill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • St. David Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. David Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. David Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cochise Memory Gardens Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Fry Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fry Cemetery
    • The Fry Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Fry Family Cemetery
    • Fry Pioneer Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2176887 <4>
  • Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Tompkins Memorial Park
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tompkins Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tompkins Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cochise Gardens of Rest Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Ft. Huachuca Post Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ft. Huachuca Post Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Ft. Huachuca Post Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<5> to the east of Fort Huachuca.
    • The Ft. Huachuca Post Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Ft. Huachuca Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1968897 <4>
  • Benson Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Benson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Benson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fruitland Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Gleeson Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Dragoon Springs Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dragoon Springs Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dragoon Springs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Black Oak Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)

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.<6>

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

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

  • Fairbank ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairbank
    • Fairbank is located in Cochise County
  • Contention City ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Contention City. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Contention City
    • Contention City is located in Cochise County
    • Contention City has also been known as:
    • Contention
  • Tombstone
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Saint David
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Fort Huachuca
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Benson
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Dragoon
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Bisbee
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Sonoita
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Pantano
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pantano have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pantano
    • Pantano is located in Pima County

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

Newspapers Published in Benson Junction ...

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 88 newspapers that have been published in the area around Benson Junction.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Benson Junction, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Benson Junction.

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 websites either 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 Benson Junction:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Benson Junction. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Cochise County: www.cochise.az.gov/

The official website for State of Arizona: https://az.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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>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>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- Benson Junction) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Benson Junction. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.7393, Longitude: -110.1981       In this case, the coordinates for Benson Junction have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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 Benson Junction, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025