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 Buena Vista (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 Buena Vista. 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.
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 doctors and 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.
Buena Vista is located in Chaffee County and is the County Seat.
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 Chaffee County: Fremont, Gunnison, Lake, Park, Pitkin & Saguache.
Below are the counties that are near Buena Vista. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Buena Vista:
- Chaffee County (The home county of Buena Vista)
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Johnson Village
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Americus
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Americus is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Americus
- Nathrop
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Pine Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Pine Creek is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Creek
- Iron City ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Iron City is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron City
- Saint Elmo ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Saint Elmo is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Elmo
- Browns Canon
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Browns Canon is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Canon
- Turret ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Turret is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turret
- Granite
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Hawkinsville ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Hawkinsville is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkinsville
- Vicksburg ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Vicksburg is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vicksburg
- Vicksburg has also been known as:
- Vicksburg Mining Camp
- Hancock ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Hancock is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
- Banker Mine ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Banker Mine is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banker Mine
- Fremont County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Wellsville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Wellsville is located in Fremont County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsville
- Calcite ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Calcite is located in Fremont County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calcite
- Gunnison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Abbeyville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Abbeyville is located in Gunnison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbeyville
- Former name for Abbeyville:
- Hillerton
- Tincup
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Tincup is located in Gunnison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tincup
- Pieplant ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Pieplant is located in Gunnison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pieplant
- Pieplant has also been known as:
- Pie Plant
- Pieplant Mill
- Whitepine
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Whitepine is located in Gunnison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitepine
- Whitepine has also been known as:
- White Pine
- Pitkin
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bowerman ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bowerman is located in Gunnison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowerman
- Bowerman has also been known as:
- Camp Bowerman
- Nugget City
- Lake County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Low Pass ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Low Pass is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Low Pass
- Twin Lakes
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Oro City ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Oro City is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oro City
- Malta ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Malta is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malta
- Leadville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Park County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Hartsel
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Horseshoe ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Horseshoe is located in Park County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horseshoe
- Pike - San Isabel Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Fairplay
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Alma Junction
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Alma Junction is located in Park County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma Junction
- Park City ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Park City is located in Park County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park City
- Pitkin County
- Ruby ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Ruby is located in Pitkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Buena Vista, see our County-by-County Page for Buena Vista.
Cemeteries Near Buena Vista ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Buena Vista.
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 Buena Vista - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Buena Vista covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Mt. Olivet Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Centerville Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Buffalo Springs Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Granite Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Windfield Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Boothill Cemetery
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Tincup Cemetery
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Fairview Cemetery
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Tomichi Cemetery
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Poncha Springs Cemetery
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Hartsel Cemetery
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Woodlawn Cemetery
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Continue List (11 more) ...
- Cleora Cemetery
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- White Pine Cemetery
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Pitkin Cemetery
(26 miles [41.8 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.<3>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Buena Vista had a population of 1,277 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Buena Vista had a population of 3,116 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Americus
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Americus is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Americus
- Nathrop
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Riverside
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Riverside is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
- Pine Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Pine Creek is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Creek
- Alpine ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Alpine is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
- Saint Elmo ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Saint Elmo is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Elmo
- Haver ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Haver is located in Park County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haver
- Browns Canon
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Browns Canon is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Canon
- Romley ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Romley is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romley
- Granite
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Belleview
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Belleview is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview
- Tincup
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Tincup is located in Gunnison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tincup
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Winfield ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Winfield is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winfield
- Maysville ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Maysville is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
- Garfield ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Garfield is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Buena Vista. See our List of 1890's Communities around Buena Vista.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Buena Vista ...
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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Buena Vista.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Buena Vista. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Buena Vista and those printed in the larger area surrounding Buena Vista.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Buena Vista.
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 Buena Vista:
- Websites specific to Colorado
- Pages specific to Chaffee County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Fremont County
- Gunnison County
- Lake County
- Park County
- Pitkin 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 Buena Vista, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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- Buena Vista) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |