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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 Centro (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 Centro. 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.

Centro is located in Conejos 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 Conejos County: Alamosa, Archuleta, Costilla, Rio Grande, Rio Arriba (NM) & Taos (NM).

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

  • Conejos County     (The home county of Centro)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Centro, with the one closest to Centro listed first.
    • Capulin
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Bountiful
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Bountiful is located in Conejos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bountiful
    • La Jara
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Romeo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Sanford
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Manassa
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Mogote
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Mogote is located in Conejos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mogote
    • Paisaje
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Paisaje is located in Conejos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paisaje
    • Conejos
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Antonito
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Ortiz
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Ortiz is located in Conejos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ortiz
    • Osier
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Osier is located in Conejos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osier
    • Platoro
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Platoro is located in Conejos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platoro
  • Alamosa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Centro, with the one closest to Centro listed first.
    • Waverly
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Waverly is located in Alamosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverly
    • Henry
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Henry is located in Alamosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
    • Parma
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Parma is located in Alamosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parma
    • Alamosa
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Alamosa East
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Alamosa East is located in Alamosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamosa East
    • Mosca
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Rio Grande County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Centro, with the one closest to Centro listed first.
    • Jasper ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Jasper is located in Rio Grande County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jasper
    • Homelake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Monte Vista
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Summitville ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Summitville is located in Rio Grande County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summitville
    • Del Norte
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Rio Arriba County (NM)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Centro, with the one closest to Centro listed first.
    • Sublette
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Sublette is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sublette
    • Lava ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Lava is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lava

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

Cemeteries Near Centro ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Centro.

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

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

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

  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Capulin Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • De la Luz Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • La Jara Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Sanford Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Fox Creek Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Nance Family Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nance Family Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Nance Family Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<2> to the south of Manassa.
  • Soward Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Old Manassa Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Manassa Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Old Manassa Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<2> to the south of Manassa.
  • Rock Creek Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Martinez Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinez Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Martinez Cemetery is located 6 miles [9.7 km]<2> to the west of Antonito.
    • The Martinez Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2267023 <3>
  • Las Mesitas Catholic Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (23 more) ...
    • Antonio Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Conejos Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Warshaver Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)

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

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

  • Capulin
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • La Jara
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Manassa
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Sanford
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Conejos
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Antonito
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Los Cerritos
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Los Cerritos is located in Conejos County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Cerritos
  • Parma
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Parma is located in Alamosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parma
  • Jasper ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Jasper is located in Rio Grande County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jasper
  • Monte Vista
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
  • Sublette
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Sublette is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sublette
  • Big Horn
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Big Horn is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Horn
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Ortiz
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Ortiz is located in Conejos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ortiz
    • Toltec
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Toltec is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toltec
    • Lava ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Lava is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lava

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

Newspapers Published in Centro ...

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 61 newspapers that have been published in the area around Centro.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Centro, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Centro.

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 Centro:

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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Centro) 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 Centro, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.