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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 Aroya (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 Aroya. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Aroya is located in Cheyenne County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Cheyenne County: Kiowa, Kit Carson, Lincoln, Greeley (KS) & Wallace (KS).

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

  • Cheyenne County     (The home county of Aroya)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Aroya, with the one closest to Aroya listed first.
    • Wild Horse
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Kit Carson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Kiowa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Aroya, with the one closest to Aroya listed first.
    • Galatea
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Galatea. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galatea
      • Galatea is located in Kiowa County
    • Haswell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Haswell have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haswell
      • Haswell is located in Kiowa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 74 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Haswell <1>
  • Kit Carson County
    • Flagler
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Lincoln County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Aroya, with the one closest to Aroya listed first.
    • Boyero
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Karval
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Hugo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hugo
      • Hugo is located in Lincoln County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 782 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hugo <1>
    • Arriba
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near Aroya ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Aroya.

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

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

  • Aroya Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Aroya Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Aroya Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Aroya Cemetery is located 20 miles [32.2 km]<4> to the east of Kit Carson.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2307811 <5>
  • McIntire Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McIntire Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the McIntire Cemetery is located 13 miles [20.9 km]<4> to the east of Kit Carson.
    • The McIntire Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Wild Horse Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2307816 <5>
  • Boyero Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Boyero Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Boyero Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Clifford Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clifford Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clifford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kit Carson Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kit Carson Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Kit Carson Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Kit Carson.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #57372 <5>
  • Bucklen Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bucklen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bucklen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Galatea Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Galatea Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Galatea Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Liberty Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Liberty Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Liberty Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Samuel Messersmith Grave
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Samuel Messersmith Grave
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Samuel Messersmith Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hugo Old Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hugo Old Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hugo Old Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dudley Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dudley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dudley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Doctor A H Coulson Grave
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Doctor A H Coulson Grave
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Doctor A H Coulson Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Haswell Cemetery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Haswell Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Haswell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Hugo Evergreen Cemetery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hugo Evergreen Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hugo Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Mt. Calvary Cemetery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Calvary Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Calvary 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.<6>

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

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

  • Wild Horse
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Boyero
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Sorrento
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sorrento have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sorrento
    • Sorrento is located in Cheyenne County
  • Kit Carson
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Galatea
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Galatea. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galatea
    • Galatea is located in Kiowa County
  • Hugo
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hugo
    • Hugo is located in Lincoln County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 782 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hugo <1>
  • Haswell
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Haswell have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haswell
    • Haswell is located in Kiowa County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 74 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Haswell <1>

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

Newspapers Published in Aroya ...

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 10 newspapers that have been published in the area around Aroya.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Aroya, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Aroya.

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 Aroya:

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

The official website for State of Colorado: https://www.colorado.gov/

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>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.
<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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Aroya) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Aroya. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8542, Longitude: -103.1255       In this case, the coordinates for Aroya have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<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 Aroya, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025