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 Central City (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 Central City. 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 Central City ...
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.
In past government published Postal Guides, Central City was referred to as Central City Courthouse.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Central City. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Central City.
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.
For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.
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 doctors and 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.
Central City is primarily located in Gilpin County and is the County Seat. A portion of Central City extends into Clear Creek 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 Gilpin County: Boulder, Clear Creek, Grand & Jefferson.
Below are the counties that are near Central City. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Central City:
- Gilpin County (The home county of Central City)
- The following are listed by their distance from Central City, with the one closest to Central City listed first.
- Nevadaville ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Nevadaville is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nevadaville
- Nevadaville has also been known as:
- Bald Mountain
- Nevada City
- Black Hawk
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Russell Gulch
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Russell Gulch is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell Gulch
- Smith Hill ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Smith Hill is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Hill
- Apex ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Apex is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apex
- Cottonwood
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Cottonwood is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
- American City ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- American City is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for American City
- Kingston ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Kingston is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
- Rollinsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Adams County
- The following are listed by their distance from Central City, with the one closest to Central City listed first.
- Berkley
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Berkley is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkley
- Hidden Lake
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Hidden Lake is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Lake
- Westminster
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Federal Heights
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Holiday Hills Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Sherrelwood
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Sherrelwood is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherrelwood
- Twin Lakes
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Twin Lakes is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
- Western Hills
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Western Hills is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Western Hills
- North Washington
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- North Washington is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Washington
- Northglenn
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Welby
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Welby is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welby
- Eastlake
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Arapahoe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Central City, with the one closest to Central City listed first.
- Fort Logan ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Fort Logan is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Logan
- Bow Mar
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Bow Mar is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bow Mar
- Population from the 2020 Census: 947 people
- Sheridan
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Columbine Valley
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Columbine Valley is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbine Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,508 people
- Englewood
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Littleton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Boulder County
- The following are listed by their distance from Central City, with the one closest to Central City listed first.
- Pinecliffe
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Wondervu
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Wondervu is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wondervu
- Eldora
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Eldora is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldora
- Former names for Eldora:
- El Dora
- Eldorado
- Eldora has also been known as:
- Happy Valley
- Nederland
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Nederland is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nederland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,557 people
- Former names for Nederland:
- Browns Crossing
- Dayton
- Middle Boulder
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nederland <1>
- Crescent Village
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Crescent Village is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Village
- Tungsten ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Tungsten is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tungsten
- Caribou ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Caribou is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caribou
- Caribou has also been known as:
- Caribou City
- Eldorado Springs
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Magnolia
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Magnolia is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
- Wallstreet
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Wallstreet is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallstreet
- Gold Hill
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Gold Hill is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Hill
- Boulder
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Broomfield County
- The following are listed by their distance from Central City, with the one closest to Central City listed first.
- Broomfield Heights
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Broomfield Heights is located in Broomfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broomfield Heights
- Broomfield
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Clear Creek County
- The following are listed by their distance from Central City, with the one closest to Central City listed first.
- Idaho Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Dumont
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Downieville - Lawson - Dumont
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Downieville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Silver Creek ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Silver Creek is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
- Lawson
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Lawson is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawson
- Alice
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Alice is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alice
- Saint Mary's
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Saint Mary's is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Mary's
- Empire
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Georgetown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Brookvale
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Brookvale is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookvale
- Silverdale ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Silverdale is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silverdale
- Denver County
- The following are listed by their distance from Central City, with the one closest to Central City listed first.
- West Denver
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- West Denver is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Denver
- Denver
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Denver is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denver
- Population from the 2020 Census: 735,538 people
- Former names for Denver:
- Auraina
- Denver City
- Montana City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Denver <1>
- Cherry Creek
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Cherry Creek is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Creek
- Grand County
- The following are listed by their distance from Central City, with the one closest to Central City listed first.
- Winter Park
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Fraser
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Tabernash
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Granby
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Central City, with the one closest to Central City listed first.
- Coal Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Coal Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Creek
- Twin Spruce
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Twin Spruce is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Spruce
- Bergen Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Bergen Park is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bergen Park
- Genesee
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Kittredge
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Golden
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Evergreen
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Brook Forest
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Brook Forest is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brook Forest
- Idledale
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Arapahoe ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Arapahoe is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arapahoe
- Applewood
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Applewood is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Applewood
- West Pleasant View
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- West Pleasant View is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pleasant View
- Park County
- The following are listed by their distance from Central City, with the one closest to Central City listed first.
- Grant
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Weller
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Weller is located in Park County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weller
- Shawnee
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Webster ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Webster is located in Park County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
- Bailey
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Summit County
- The following are listed by their distance from Central City, with the one closest to Central City listed first.
- Chihuahua ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Chihuahua is located in Summit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chihuahua
- Montezuma
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Saint Johns ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Saint Johns is located in Summit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Johns
- Rexford ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Rexford is located in Summit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rexford
- Keystone
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Swandyke ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Swandyke is located in Summit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swandyke
- Dillon
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Central City, see our County-by-County Page for Central City.
Cemeteries Near Central City ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Central City.
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 Central City - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Central City covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Central City, with the one closest to Central City listed first.
- Missouri City Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- City Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Knights of Pythias Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Foresters Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Red Men Lodge Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Catholic Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- IOOF Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Bald Mtn. Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Masonic Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Rocky Mtn. IOOF Lodge #2 Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Russell Gulch Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Dory Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (65 more) ...
- Idaho Springs Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Dumont Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Alvarado Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alvarado Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Alvarado Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<2> to the southeast of Empire.
- The Alvarado Cemetery has also been known as:
- Alvarado - Georgetown Cemetery
- Georgetown Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #57149 <3>
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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Central City had a population of 2,480 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Central City had a population of 730 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Central City, with the one closest to Central City listed first.
- Nevadaville ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Nevadaville is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nevadaville
- Nevadaville has also been known as:
- Bald Mountain
- Nevada City
- Russell Gulch
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Russell Gulch is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell Gulch
- Black Hawk
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Idaho Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Smith Hill ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Smith Hill is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Hill
- Dumont
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Cottonwood
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Cottonwood is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
- Lawson
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Lawson is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawson
- Lamartine ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Lamartine is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamartine
- Rollinsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Empire
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Georgetown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (18 more) ...
- Nederland
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Nederland is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nederland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,557 people
- Former names for Nederland:
- Browns Crossing
- Dayton
- Middle Boulder
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nederland <1>
- Brookvale
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Brookvale is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookvale
- Silver Plume
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Central City. See our List of 1890's Communities around Central City.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Central City ...
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 90 newspapers that have been published in the area around Central City.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Central City. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Central City and those printed in the larger area surrounding Central City.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<2> of Central City.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Central City:
- Websites specific to Colorado
- Pages specific to Gilpin County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Adams County
- Arapahoe County
- Boulder County
- Broomfield County
- Clear Creek County
- Denver County
- Grand County
- Jefferson County
- Park County
- Summit 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Central City) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Central City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |