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 Clay (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 Clay. 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 southwest 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 south.
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 south 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.
Clay is located in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County: Adams, Boulder, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Gilpin, Park & Teller.
Below are the counties that are near Clay. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Clay:
- Jefferson County (The home county of Clay)
- The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
- Twin Spruce
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Twin Spruce is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Spruce
- Oak Park
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Oak Park is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Park
- Coal Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Coal Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Creek
- Golden
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Arapahoe ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Arapahoe is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arapahoe
- Applewood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Applewood is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Applewood
- Wallace Village
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Wallace Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallace Village
- Applewood Village
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Applewood Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Applewood Village
- West Pleasant View
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- West Pleasant View is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pleasant View
- Arvada
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- East Pleasant View
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- East Pleasant View is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Pleasant View
- Genesee
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Adams County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
- Westminster
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Hidden Lake
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Hidden Lake is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Lake
- Berkley
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Berkley is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkley
- Federal Heights
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Holiday Hills Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Sherrelwood
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Sherrelwood is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherrelwood
- Twin Lakes
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Twin Lakes is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
- Western Hills
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Western Hills is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Western Hills
- North Washington
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- North Washington is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Washington
- Northglenn
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Eastlake
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Welby
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Welby is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welby
- Arapahoe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
- Fort Logan ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Fort Logan is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Logan
- Bow Mar
(19 miles [30.6 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
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Englewood
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Glendale
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Cherry Hills Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Columbine Valley
(21 miles [33.8 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
- Littleton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Colfax Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Colfax Village is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colfax Village
- Aurora
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Cherry Knolls
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Cherry Knolls is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Knolls
- Havana Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Havana Village is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana Village
- Boulder County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
- Eldorado Springs
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Crescent Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Crescent Village is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Village
- Superior
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Wondervu
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Wondervu is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wondervu
- Boulder
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Louisville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Magnolia
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Magnolia is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
- Pinecliffe
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Valmont
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Valmont is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valmont
- Lafayette
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Tungsten ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Tungsten is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tungsten
- Gunbarrel
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Gunbarrel is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunbarrel
- Broomfield County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
- Broomfield Heights
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Broomfield Heights is located in Broomfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broomfield Heights
- Broomfield
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Clear Creek County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
- Idaho Springs
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Brookvale
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Brookvale is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookvale
- Dumont
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Downieville - Lawson - Dumont
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Downieville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Alice
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Alice is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alice
- Lawson
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Lawson is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawson
- Saint Mary's
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Saint Mary's is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Mary's
- Silver Creek ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Silver Creek is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
- Empire
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Georgetown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Silverdale ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 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 Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
- West Denver
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- West Denver is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Denver
- Denver
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- 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
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Cherry Creek is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Creek
- Sandown
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Sandown is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandown
- Montbello
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Douglas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
- Highlands Ranch
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Roxborough Park
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Roxborough Park is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxborough Park
- Acres Green
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Gateway
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Gateway is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gateway
- Carriage Club
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Carriage Club is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carriage Club
- Heritage Hills
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Heritage Hills is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Hills
- Louviers
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Lone Tree
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Meridian
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Meridian is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
- Gilpin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
- Cottonwood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Cottonwood is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
- Smith Hill ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Smith Hill is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Hill
- Black Hawk
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Central City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Rollinsville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Nevadaville ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] 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
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Russell Gulch is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell Gulch
- Apex ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Apex is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apex
- American City ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- American City is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for American City
- Kingston ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Kingston is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
- Grand County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
- Winter Park
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Fraser
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Larimer County
- Big Elk Meadows
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Big Elk Meadows is located in Larimer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Elk Meadows
- Weld County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
- Dacono
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Frederick
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Wattenberg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Wattenberg is located in Weld County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wattenberg
- Firestone
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Fort Lupton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Lochbuie
(29 miles [46.7 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
- Highland Lake
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Highland Lake is located in Weld County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Lake
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Clay, see our County-by-County Page for Clay.
Cemeteries Near Clay ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Clay.
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 Clay - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Clay covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
- Eldorado Springs Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Ralston Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- White Ash Mine Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- William F Cody Grave
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Mt. Olivet Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Olivet Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mt. Olivet Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Wheat Ridge.
- The Mt. Olivet Cemetery has also been known as:
- Mt. Olivet Catholic Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #57441 <2>
- Superior Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Green Mtn. Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Mtn. Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Green Mtn. Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Boulder.
- The Green Mtn. Cemetery has also been known as:
- Green Mtn. Memorial Park
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #57314 <2>
- Golden Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Golden Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Golden.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #152829 <2>
- Arvada Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Sacred Heart Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Rockland Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Golden Hill Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (84 more) ...
- Columbia Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Crown Hill Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Lakeview Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
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>
While we didn't find Clay in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Clay.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
- Marshall
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Marshall is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
- Golden
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Cottonwood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Cottonwood is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
- Arvada
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Semper
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Semper is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Semper
- Magnolia
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Magnolia is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
- Louisville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Boulder
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Smith Hill ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Smith Hill is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Hill
- Cotton Creek
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Cotton Creek is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Creek
- Black Hawk
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Broomfield
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Lafayette
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Valmont
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Valmont is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valmont
- Central City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Clay. See our List of 1890's Communities around Clay.
Newspapers Published in Clay ...
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 88 newspapers that have been published in the area around Clay.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Clay, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Clay.
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 professional and volunteer 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 Clay:
- Websites specific to Colorado
- Pages specific to Jefferson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Adams County
- Arapahoe County
- Boulder County
- Broomfield County
- Clear Creek County
- Denver County
- Douglas County
- Gilpin County
- Grand County
- Larimer County
- Weld 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 Clay, 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- Clay) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |