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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.

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 Black Forest: Black Frst.

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 and doctors 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.

Black Forest is located in El Paso 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 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gleneagle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gleneagle
      • Gleneagle is located in El Paso County
    • Falcon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Eastonville ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastonville
      • Eastonville is located in El Paso County
    • Woodmoor
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodmoor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodmoor
      • Woodmoor is located in El Paso County
    • Monument
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Cimarron Hills
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cimarron Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cimarron Hills
      • Cimarron Hills is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cimarron Hills <2>
    • Peyton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peyton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peyton
      • Peyton is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Peyton <2>
    • Palmer Lake
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Palmer Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmer Lake
      • Palmer Lake is located in El Paso County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,037 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Palmer Lake <2>
    • Colorado Springs
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colorado Springs
      • Colorado Springs is located in El Paso County
      • 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 <2>
    • Kelker
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kelker have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelker
      • Kelker is located in El Paso County
    • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Larkspur have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larkspur
      • Larkspur is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 203 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Larkspur <2>
    • Perry Park
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Perry Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perry Park
      • Perry Park is located in Douglas County
    • Founders Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Founders Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Founders Village
      • Founders Village is located in Douglas County
    • 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)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westcreek
      • Westcreek is located in Douglas County
    • The Pinery
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Pinery
      • The Pinery is located in Douglas County
  • 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)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fondis
      • Fondis is located in Elbert County
    • Elizabeth
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elizabeth have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth
      • Elizabeth is located in Elbert County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,867 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elizabeth <2>
    • Kiowa
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kiowa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kiowa
      • Kiowa is located in Elbert County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 826 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kiowa <2>
    • Ponderosa Park
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ponderosa Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponderosa Park
      • Ponderosa Park is located in Elbert County
  • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodland Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Park
      • Woodland Park is located in Teller County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,151 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Woodland Park <2>
    • Divide
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Divide have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Divide
      • Divide is located in Teller County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Divide <2>
    • Goldfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldfield
      • Goldfield is located in Teller County
    • Independence ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Independence have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
      • Independence is located in Teller County

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.

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 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)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Benedict Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Benedict Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Eastonville Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the 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 the Table Rock Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Table Rock Cemetery is located 9 miles [14.5 km]<3> to the west of Monument.
  • Capps Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Capps Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Capps Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
  • Bluff Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bluff Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Bluff Cemetery is located 14 miles [22.5 km]<3> to the west 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)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Church of the Woodmoor Columbarium
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for The Church of the Woodmoor Columbarium have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • 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 the Mt. St. Francis Cemetery
    • The Mt. St. Francis Cemetery has also been known as:
    • St. Francis Cemetery
  • Spring Valley Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spring Valley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spring Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • 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)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the James Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the James Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Pioneer Park Memorial
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the 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.<5>

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)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastonville
    • Eastonville is located in El Paso County
  • Pikeview
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pikeview have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pikeview
    • Pikeview is located in El Paso County
  • Elsmere
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elsmere have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elsmere
    • Elsmere is located in El Paso County
  • Monument
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Peyton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peyton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peyton
    • Peyton is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Peyton <2>
  • Colorado Springs
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colorado Springs
    • Colorado Springs is located in El Paso County
    • 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 <2>
  • Palmer Lake
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Palmer Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmer Lake
    • Palmer Lake is located in El Paso County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,037 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Palmer Lake <2>
  • Greenland
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenland
    • Greenland is located in Douglas County
  • Manitou Springs
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Ivywild
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ivywild have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivywild
    • Ivywild is located in El Paso County
  • Kelker
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kelker have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelker
    • Kelker is located in El Paso County
  • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Larkspur have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larkspur
      • Larkspur is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 203 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Larkspur <2>

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]<3> of Black Forest.

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 Black Forest:

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

The official website for El Paso County: www.elpasoco.com/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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 from Point A (ie- Black Forest) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Black Forest. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0130, Longitude: -104.7008       In this case, the coordinates for Black Forest have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<5>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.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025