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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 Brighton (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 Brighton. 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 Brighton ...

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.

The community of Brighton was originally named Hughes Junction

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

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.

A Few Details for Brighton ...

While it's still very early in our research, we found that:

  • The naming (or the toponymy) of Brighton: pcodwn:Named for Brighton, Massachusetts, the hometown of D.F. Carmichaels, who laid out the town.
  • It was incorporated on September 1, 1887.

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 hospitals 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.

Brighton is primarily located in Adams County and is the County Seat. A portion of Brighton extends into Weld 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 Adams County: Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver, Jefferson, Morgan, Washington & Weld.

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

  • Adams County     (The home county of Brighton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brighton, with the one closest to Brighton listed first.
    • Todd Creek
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Todd Creek is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Todd Creek
    • Henderson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Darlow ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Little Texas ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Commerce City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Thornton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Eastlake
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Northglenn
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Derby
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Derby is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
    • Dupont
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Adams City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Adams City is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams City
    • Welby
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Federal Heights
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Arapahoe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brighton, with the one closest to Brighton listed first.
    • Altura
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Altura is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altura
    • Aurora
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Colfax Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Colfax Village is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colfax Village
    • Havana Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Havana Village is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana Village
    • Old Towne
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Old Towne is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Towne
    • Settlers Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Settlers Village is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Settlers Village
    • Glendale
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Hallcrafts Village East
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Sableridge
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Somerset Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Somerset Village is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerset Village
    • Cherry Hills Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Englewood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Sheridan
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Boulder County
  • Broomfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brighton, with the one closest to Brighton listed first.
    • Broomfield
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Broomfield Heights
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Broomfield Heights is located in Broomfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broomfield Heights
  • Denver County
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brighton, with the one closest to Brighton listed first.
    • Cottonwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Cottonwood is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
    • Acres Green
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Gateway
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Gateway is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gateway
    • Grand View Estates
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Grand View Estates is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand View Estates
    • Heritage Hills
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Heritage Hills is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Hills
    • Meridian
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Meridian is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
  • Jefferson County
  • Larimer County
  • Weld County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brighton, with the one closest to Brighton listed first.
    • Wattenberg
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lochbuie
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Lochbuie is located in Weld County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lochbuie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,885 people
    • Fort Lupton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Aristocrat Ranchettes
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Dacono
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Hudson
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Frederick
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Firestone
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Platteville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Keenesburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Johnson
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Johnson is located in Weld County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson
    • Gilcrest
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Highland Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Brighton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brighton.

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

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

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

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.<4>

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

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

  • Fort Lupton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Dick
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Dick is located in Weld County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dick
  • Saint Vrains
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Vrains is located in Weld County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Vrains
  • Hudson
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Erie
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Erie is located in Boulder County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 30,318 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Erie <1>
  • Broomfield
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Cotton Creek
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Cotton Creek is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Creek
  • Canfield
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Platteville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Lafayette
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Semper
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Semper is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Semper
  • Aurora
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Brighton ...

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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brighton.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Brighton, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Brighton.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Brighton:

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>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- Brighton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 Brighton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.