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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 Blue River (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 Blue River. 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 Blue River ...

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 Blue River: Blue Riv.

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 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.

Blue River is located in Summit 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 Summit County: Clear Creek, Eagle, Grand, Lake & Park.

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

  • Summit County     (The home county of Blue River)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue River, with the one closest to Blue River listed first.
    • Breckenridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Wild Irishman ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wild Irishman
      • Wild Irishman is located in Summit County
      • Wild Irishman has also been known as:
      • Preston Mill
      • Preston
    • Dyersville ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyersville
      • Dyersville is located in Summit County
    • Mayflower Gulch ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayflower Gulch
      • Mayflower Gulch is located in Summit County
    • Copper Mountain
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Swandyke ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Swandyke. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swandyke
      • Swandyke is located in Summit County
    • Frisco
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frisco have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frisco
      • Frisco is located in Summit County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,874 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Frisco <1>
    • Rexford ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rexford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rexford
      • Rexford is located in Summit County
    • Keystone
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Dillon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dillon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dillon
      • Dillon is located in Summit County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 967 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dillon <1>
    • Wildernest
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Saint Johns ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Johns
      • Saint Johns is located in Summit County
    • Montezuma
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Chaffee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue River, with the one closest to Blue River listed first.
    • Hawkinsville ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hawkinsville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkinsville
      • Hawkinsville is located in Chaffee County
    • Granite
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Clear Creek County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue River, with the one closest to Blue River listed first.
    • Silver Plume
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Plume have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Plume
      • Silver Plume is located in Clear Creek County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 175 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silver Plume <1>
    • Berthoud Falls
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berthoud Falls
      • Berthoud Falls is located in Clear Creek County
    • Silverdale ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silverdale
      • Silverdale is located in Clear Creek County
    • Georgetown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Berthoud Pass
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berthoud Pass
      • Berthoud Pass is located in Clear Creek County
    • Empire
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire
      • Empire is located in Clear Creek County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 302 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Empire <1>
    • Silver Creek ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
      • Silver Creek is located in Clear Creek County
  • Eagle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue River, with the one closest to Blue River listed first.
    • Camp Hale ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Hale
      • Camp Hale is located in Eagle County
    • Pando ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pando
      • Pando is located in Eagle County
    • Red Cliff
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Bighorn
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bighorn have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bighorn
      • Bighorn is located in Eagle County
    • Gilman ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilman
      • Gilman is located in Eagle County
    • Astor City ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Astor City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Astor City
      • Astor City is located in Eagle County
    • Vail
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vail have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vail
      • Vail is located in Eagle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,489 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vail <1>
    • Minturn
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minturn have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minturn
      • Minturn is located in Eagle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,147 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Minturn <1>
    • Holy Cross City ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holy Cross City
      • Holy Cross City is located in Eagle County
    • Beaver Creek
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Avon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Avon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
      • Avon is located in Eagle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,952 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Avon <1>
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue River, with the one closest to Blue River listed first.
    • Climax ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
      • Climax is located in Lake County
    • Leadville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Oro City ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oro City
      • Oro City is located in Lake County
    • Low Pass ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Low Pass. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Low Pass
      • Low Pass is located in Lake County
    • Twin Lakes
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Park County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue River, with the one closest to Blue River listed first.
    • Buckskin Joe ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckskin Joe
      • Buckskin Joe is located in Park County
    • Alma
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Park City ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Park City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park City
      • Park City is located in Park County
    • Como
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Alma Junction
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma Junction
      • Alma Junction is located in Park County
    • Jefferson
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Fairplay
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Horseshoe ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Horseshoe have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horseshoe
      • Horseshoe is located in Park County
    • Grant
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grant have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant
      • Grant is located in Park County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grant <1>
    • Weller
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weller
      • Weller is located in Park County
    • Shawnee
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shawnee have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawnee
      • Shawnee is located in Park County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shawnee <1>
    • Bailey
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bailey have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey
      • Bailey is located in Park County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bailey <1>

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

Newspapers Published in Blue River ...

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 64 newspapers that have been published in the area around Blue River.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Blue River, 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 Blue River.

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 Blue River:

Cemeteries Near Blue River ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Blue River.

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

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

  • Valley Brook Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Valley Brook Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Valley Brook Cemetery
  • Buckskin Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Buckskin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Buckskin Cemetery
  • Dudley Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • 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.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dudley Cemetery
  • Park City Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Park City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Park City Cemetery
  • Como Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Como Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Como Cemetery
  • Dillon Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dillon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dillon Cemetery
  • Fairplay Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairplay Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairplay Cemetery
  • Old Fairplay Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Fairplay Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Fairplay Cemetery
  • Webster Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Webster Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Webster Cemetery
  • Lamping Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lamping Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lamping Cemetery
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Leadville Hebrew Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Leadville Hebrew Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Leadville Hebrew Cemetery is located outside and to the west of Leadville.
      • The Leadville Hebrew Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Hebrew Cemetery of Leadville
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Leadville Hebrew Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2209837 <5>
    • Mt. Holy Cross Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Odd Fellows Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)

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

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

  • Breckenridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Kokomo ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kokomo have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kokomo
    • Kokomo is located in Summit County
  • Climax ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
    • Climax is located in Lake County
  • Frisco
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frisco have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frisco
    • Frisco is located in Summit County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,874 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Frisco <1>
  • Alma
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Como
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Keystone
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Dillon
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dillon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dillon
    • Dillon is located in Summit County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 967 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dillon <1>
  • Birdseye
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Birdseye have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdseye
    • Birdseye is located in Lake County
  • Jefferson
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Montezuma
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Mitchell
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mitchell have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell
    • Mitchell is located in Eagle County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Fairplay
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Chihuahua ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chihuahua. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chihuahua
      • Chihuahua is located in Summit County
    • Pando ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pando
      • Pando is located in Eagle County

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

The official website for Blue River: www.townofblueriver.com/

The official website for Summit County: www.co.summit.co.us/

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 from Point A (ie- Blue River) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Blue River. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4444, Longitude: -106.0405       In this case, the coordinates for Blue River 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 Blue River, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024