RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Colorado >> El Paso County >> Calhan >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Colorado

The Commemorative Quarter for Colorado





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 Calhan (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 Calhan. 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.

Calhan 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 Calhan. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Calhan:

  • El Paso County     (The home county of Calhan)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Calhan, with the one closest to Calhan listed first.
    • Alta Vista
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Ramah
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Peyton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peyton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
    • Ellicott
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Yoder
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yoder have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yoder
      • Yoder is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Yoder <1>
    • Eastonville ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Rush
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Falcon
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Truckton ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Black Forest
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Forest have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Forest
      • Black Forest is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Black Forest <1>
    • Cimarron Hills
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cimarron Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
    • Gleneagle
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gleneagle have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gleneagle
      • Gleneagle is located in El Paso County
  • Elbert County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Calhan, with the one closest to Calhan listed first.
    • Fondis
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Simla
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Elbert
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Matheson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Matheson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matheson
      • Matheson is located in Elbert County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Matheson <1>
    • Kiowa
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kiowa have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
    • Elizabeth
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elizabeth have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Calhan ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Calhan.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Calhan, with the one closest to Calhan 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Calhan had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Calhan had a population of 827 people.

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

  • Ramah
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Peyton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peyton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
  • Eastonville ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Falcon
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Elbert
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Kiowa
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kiowa have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
  • Elsmere
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elsmere have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elsmere
    • Elsmere is located in El Paso County
  • Elizabeth
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elizabeth have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
  • Pikeview
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pikeview have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pikeview
    • Pikeview is located in El Paso County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Calhan ...

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 30 newspapers that have been published in the area around Calhan.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Calhan. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Calhan and those printed in the larger area surrounding Calhan.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Calhan.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Calhan:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Calhan. 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Calhan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Calhan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0360, Longitude: -104.2981    
<4>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.
<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 Calhan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025