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 Bear Valley (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 Bear Valley. 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 Bear Valley ...
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 Bear Valley: Bear Vly. (or less commonly used: Bear Vally. or Bear Vlly.)
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Bear Valley. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Bear Valley.
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 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.
Bear Valley is located in Denver County.
To see how the shape of Colorado's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Denver County: Adams, Arapahoe & Jefferson.
Below are the counties that are near Bear Valley. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bear Valley:
- Denver County (The home county of Bear Valley)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bear Valley, with the one closest to Bear Valley listed first.
- West Denver
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- West Denver is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Denver
- Denver
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Denver is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denver
- Population from the 2020 Census: 735,538 people
- Former names for Denver:
- Auraina
- Denver City
- Montana City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Denver <1>
- Cherry Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Cherry Creek is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Creek
- Sandown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Sandown is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandown
- Montbello
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Adams County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bear Valley, with the one closest to Bear Valley listed first.
- Berkley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Berkley is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkley
- Hidden Lake
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Hidden Lake is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Lake
- North Washington
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- North Washington is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Washington
- Twin Lakes
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Twin Lakes is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
- Westminster
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Sherrelwood
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Sherrelwood is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherrelwood
- Western Hills
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Western Hills is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Western Hills
- Adams City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Adams City is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams City
- Hillcrest Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Hillcrest Village is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest Village
- Welby
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Welby is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welby
- Federal Heights
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Derby
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Derby is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
- Dupont
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Arapahoe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bear Valley, with the one closest to Bear Valley listed first.
- Fort Logan ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Fort Logan is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Logan
- Bow Mar
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Bow Mar is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bow Mar
- Population from the 2020 Census: 947 people
- Sheridan
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Englewood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Columbine Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Columbine Valley is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbine Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,508 people
- Littleton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Cherry Hills Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Glendale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Cherry Knolls
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Cherry Knolls is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Knolls
- Southglenn
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Southglenn is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southglenn
- Greenwood Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Havana Village
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Havana Village is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana Village
- Castlewood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Castlewood is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castlewood
- Boulder County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bear Valley, with the one closest to Bear Valley listed first.
- Superior
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Eldorado Springs
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Lafayette
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Louisville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Crescent Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Crescent Village is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Village
- Erie
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Wondervu
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Wondervu is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wondervu
- Valmont
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Valmont is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valmont
- Boulder
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pinecliffe
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Canfield
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Canfield is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canfield
- Gunbarrel
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Gunbarrel is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunbarrel
- Magnolia
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Magnolia is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
- Broomfield County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bear Valley, with the one closest to Bear Valley listed first.
- Broomfield Heights
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Broomfield Heights is located in Broomfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broomfield Heights
- Broomfield
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Clear Creek County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bear Valley, with the one closest to Bear Valley listed first.
- Brookvale
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Brookvale is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookvale
- Idaho Springs
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Dumont
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Downieville - Lawson - Dumont
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Downieville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Douglas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bear Valley, with the one closest to Bear Valley listed first.
- Highlands Ranch
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Acres Green
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Gateway
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Gateway is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gateway
- Carriage Club
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Carriage Club is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carriage Club
- Heritage Hills
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Heritage Hills is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Hills
- Louviers
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Roxborough Park
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Roxborough Park is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxborough Park
- Lone Tree
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Meridian
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Meridian is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
- Castle Pines North
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Castle Pines North is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Pines North
- Estimated population in 2011: 10,602 people
- Cottonwood
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Cottonwood is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
- Grand View Estates
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Grand View Estates is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand View Estates
- Castle Pines
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Elbert County
- Ponderosa Park
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Ponderosa Park is located in Elbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponderosa Park
- Gilpin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bear Valley, with the one closest to Bear Valley listed first.
- Cottonwood
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Cottonwood is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
- Smith Hill ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Smith Hill is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Hill
- Black Hawk
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Central City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Nevadaville ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Nevadaville is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nevadaville
- Nevadaville has also been known as:
- Bald Mountain
- Nevada City
- Russell Gulch
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Russell Gulch is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell Gulch
- Rollinsville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Apex ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Apex is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apex
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bear Valley, with the one closest to Bear Valley listed first.
- Lakewood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Green Mountain Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Columbine
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Columbine is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbine
- Edgewater
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- East Pleasant View
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- East Pleasant View is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Pleasant View
- Ken Caryl
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mountain View
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Mountain View is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
- Population from the 2020 Census: 549 people
- Wheat Ridge
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- West Pleasant View
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- West Pleasant View is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pleasant View
- Lakeside
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Applewood Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Applewood Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Applewood Village
- Applewood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Applewood is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Applewood
- Archer
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Archer is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archer
- Park County
- Bailey
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Weld County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bear Valley, with the one closest to Bear Valley listed first.
- Wattenberg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Wattenberg is located in Weld County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wattenberg
- Dacono
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Lochbuie
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lochbuie is located in Weld County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lochbuie
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,885 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Bear Valley, see our County-by-County Page for Bear Valley.
Cemeteries Near Bear Valley ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bear Valley.
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 Bear Valley - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Bear Valley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bear Valley, with the one closest to Bear Valley listed first.
- Ft. Logan National Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Littleton Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Crown Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Golden Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Morrison Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Golden Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Golden Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Golden.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #152829 <2>
- Arvada Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Olinger Hampden Memorial Gardens Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Emanuel Cemetery at Fairmount
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Fairmount Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Mt. Olivet Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Olivet Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mt. Olivet Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Wheat Ridge.
- The Mt. Olivet Cemetery has also been known as:
- Mt. Olivet Catholic Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #57441 <2>
- Continue List (73 more) ...
- The Cremation Gardens at Rocky Mtn. Memorial Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Riverside Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- White Ash Mine Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
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.<3>
While we didn't find Bear Valley in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bear Valley.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Bear Valley, with the one closest to Bear Valley listed first.
- Fort Logan ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Fort Logan is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Logan
- Littleton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- West Denver
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- West Denver is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Denver
- Denver
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Denver is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denver
- Population from the 2020 Census: 735,538 people
- Former names for Denver:
- Auraina
- Denver City
- Montana City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Denver <1>
- Morrison
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Archer
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Archer is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archer
- Sullivan
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Sullivan is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sullivan
- Acequia
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Acequia is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acequia
- Arvada
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Golden
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Semper
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Semper is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Semper
- Aurora
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Evergreen
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Sedalia
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Cotton Creek
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Cotton Creek is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Creek
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Bear Valley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bear Valley.
Newspapers Published in Bear Valley ...
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 417 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bear Valley.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bear Valley, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bear Valley.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Bear Valley:
- Websites specific to Colorado
- Pages specific to Denver County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Adams County
- Arapahoe County
- Boulder County
- Broomfield County
- Clear Creek County
- Douglas County
- Elbert County
- Gilpin County
- Jefferson County
- Park County
- Weld County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Colorado
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> | 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 Bear Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- Bear Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |