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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 Forest (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 Forest. 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 Forest ...

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 Forest: Black Frst.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Black Forest. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Black Forest.

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 southwest 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 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 west 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.

Black Forest is located in El Paso 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 El Paso County: Crowley, Douglas, Elbert, Fremont, Lincoln, Pueblo & Teller.

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

  • El Paso County     (The home county of Black Forest)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Black Forest, with the one closest to Black Forest listed first.
    • Gleneagle
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Gleneagle is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gleneagle
    • Falcon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Eastonville ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Eastonville is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastonville
    • Woodmoor
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Woodmoor is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodmoor
    • Monument
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Cimarron Hills
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Peyton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Palmer Lake
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Colorado Springs
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Colorado Springs is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colorado Springs
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 482,131 people
      • Former names for Colorado Springs:
      • El Paso
      • Fountain Colony
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colorado Springs <1>
    • Kelker
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Kelker is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelker
    • Manitou Springs
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Cascade
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Black Forest, with the one closest to Black Forest listed first.
    • Larkspur
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Perry Park
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Perry Park is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perry Park
    • Founders Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Founders Village is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Founders Village
    • Castle Rock
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Franktown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Westcreek
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Westcreek is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westcreek
    • The Pinery
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • The Pinery is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Pinery
  • Elbert County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Black Forest, with the one closest to Black Forest listed first.
    • Elbert
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Fondis
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Fondis is located in Elbert County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fondis
    • Elizabeth
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Kiowa
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Ponderosa Park
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Ponderosa Park is located in Elbert County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponderosa Park
  • Teller County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Black Forest, with the one closest to Black Forest listed first.
    • Woodland Park
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Divide
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Goldfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Goldfield is located in Teller County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldfield
    • Independence ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Independence is located in Teller County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence

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

Cemeteries Near Black Forest ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Black Forest.

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 Forest - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • St. Benedict Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Eastonville Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastonville Cemetery
    • The Eastonville Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Shadeland Cemetery
  • Table Rock Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Table Rock Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Table Rock Cemetery is located 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the east of Monument.
  • Capps Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Bluff Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Bluff Cemetery is located 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the east of Monument.
    • The Bluff Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Evans Cemetery
  • The Church of the Woodmoor Columbarium
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • United States Air Force Academy Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • St. Matthias Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Mt. St. Francis Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. St. Francis Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mt. St. Francis Cemetery is located 7 miles [11.3 km]<2> to the north of Colorado Springs.
    • The Mt. St. Francis Cemetery has also been known as:
    • St. Francis Cemetery
  • Spring Valley Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Monument Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Peyton Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (47 more) ...
    • James Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Pioneer Park Memorial
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer Park Memorial
      • The Pioneer Park Memorial has also been known as:
      • Mesa Cemetery
    • Memorial Gardens Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)

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 Black Forest in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Black Forest.

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

  • Falcon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Eastonville ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Eastonville is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastonville
  • Pikeview
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Pikeview is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pikeview
  • Elsmere
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Elsmere is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elsmere
  • Monument
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Peyton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Colorado Springs
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Colorado Springs is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colorado Springs
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 482,131 people
    • Former names for Colorado Springs:
    • El Paso
    • Fountain Colony
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colorado Springs <1>
  • Palmer Lake
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Greenland
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Greenland is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenland
  • Manitou Springs
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Ivywild
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Ivywild is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivywild
  • Kelker
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Kelker is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelker
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Elbert
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Green Mountain Falls
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Larkspur
      (17 miles [27.4 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 Forest. See our List of 1890's Communities around Black Forest.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Black Forest ...

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 166 newspapers that have been published in the area around Black Forest.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Black Forest. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Black Forest and those printed in the larger area surrounding Black Forest.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<2> of Black Forest.

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 Forest:

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>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- Black Forest) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Black Forest, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.