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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 Black Bear Spring (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 Black Bear Spring. 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 Black Bear Spring ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Black Bear Spring: Black Bear Spg. (or less commonly used: Black Bear Spng. or Black Bear Sprng.)

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 northwest 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 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 west 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.

Black Bear Spring is located in Cochise County.

To see how the shape of Arizona's counties may 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 Black Bear Spring. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Black Bear Spring:

  • Cochise County     (The home county of Black Bear Spring)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Black Bear Spring, with the one closest to Black Bear Spring listed first.
    • Hereford
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Nicksville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Nicksville is located in Cochise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicksville
    • Sunnyside ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Sunnyside is located in Cochise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
    • Miracle Valley
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Miracle Valley is located in Cochise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miracle Valley
    • Palominas
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Palominas is located in Cochise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palominas
    • Coronado Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Coronado Village is located in Cochise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coronado Village
    • De Anza Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • De Anza Village is located in Cochise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Anza Village
    • Sierra Vista
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Fort Huachuca
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Signal Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Signal Village is located in Cochise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Signal Village
    • Huachuca City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Charleston ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Charleston is located in Cochise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charleston
    • Naco
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
  • Santa Cruz County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Black Bear Spring, with the one closest to Black Bear Spring listed first.
    • Canelo ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Canelo is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canelo
      • Former name for Canelo:
      • Canille
    • Lochiel ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Lochiel is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lochiel
    • Elgin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Duquesne
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Duquesne is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duquesne
    • Washington Camp ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Washington Camp is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washington Camp
    • Mowry ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Mowry is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mowry
    • Harshaw ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Harshaw is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harshaw
    • Casa Blanca ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Casa Blanca is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casa Blanca
    • Crittenden ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Crittenden is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crittenden
    • Sonoita
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Patagonia
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Kino Springs
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Kino Springs is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kino Springs

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

Cemeteries Near Black Bear Spring ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Black Bear Spring.

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.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Black Bear Spring - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Black Bear Spring covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Miracle Valley Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Sunnyside Pioneer Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Tompkins Memorial Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Fry Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fry Cemetery
    • The Fry Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Fry Family Cemetery
    • Fry Pioneer Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2176887 <2>
  • Ft. Huachuca Post Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for 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<3> to the west of Fort Huachuca.
    • The Ft. Huachuca Post Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Ft. Huachuca Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1968897 <2>
  • Cochise Memory Gardens Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Black Oak Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Lochief Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Memory Gardens Cemetery (Don Luis)
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Duquesne Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duquesne Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Duquesne Cemetery is located 15 miles [24.1 km]<3> to the east of Nogales.
    • The Duquesne Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Duquesne / Washington Camp Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2553831 <2>
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Fairbank Pioneer Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairbank Pioneer Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Fairbank Pioneer Cemetery is located 7 miles [11.3 km]<3> to the west of Tombstone.
    • Mowry Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Tombstone Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for 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 <2>

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.<4>

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

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

  • Fort Huachuca
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Lochiel ‑ Historic
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Lochiel is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lochiel
  • Bisbee
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
  • Fairbank ‑ Historic
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Fairbank is located in Cochise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairbank
  • Harshaw ‑ Historic
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Harshaw is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harshaw
  • Tombstone
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Contention City ‑ Historic
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Contention City is located in Cochise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Contention City
    • Contention City has also been known as:
    • Contention
  • Sonoita
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Black Bear Spring ...

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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Black Bear Spring.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Black Bear Spring, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Black Bear Spring.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Black Bear Spring:

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 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.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Black Bear Spring) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 Black Bear Spring, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.