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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 Elsmere (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 Elsmere. 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 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.

Elsmere is located in El Paso 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 El Paso County: Crowley, Douglas, Elbert, Fremont, Lincoln, Pueblo & Teller.

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

  • El Paso County     (The home county of Elsmere)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elsmere, with the one closest to Elsmere listed first.
    • Cimarron Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Kelker
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Kelker is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelker
    • Colorado Springs
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Colorado Springs is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colorado Springs
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 482,131 people
      • Former names for Colorado Springs:
      • El Paso
      • Fountain Colony
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colorado Springs <1>
    • Falcon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Stratmoor
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Stratmoor is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratmoor
    • Widefield
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Fort Carson
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Black Forest
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Manitou Springs
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Fountain
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Gleneagle
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Gleneagle is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gleneagle
    • Cascade
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elsmere, with the one closest to Elsmere listed first.
    • Larkspur
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Perry Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Perry Park is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perry Park
  • Elbert County
  • Pueblo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elsmere, with the one closest to Elsmere listed first.
    • Stone City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Stone City is located in Pueblo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone City
    • Pinon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Pinon is located in Pueblo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinon
  • Teller County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elsmere, with the one closest to Elsmere listed first.
    • Woodland Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Goldfield
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Goldfield is located in Teller County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldfield
    • Divide
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Independence ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Independence is located in Teller County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
    • Victor
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Cripple Creek
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Elsmere ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Elsmere.

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

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

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

  • Memorial Gardens Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Cemetery
    • The Evergreen Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Mt. Washington Cemetery
    • Mountain Home Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #57264 <2>
  • Shrine of Rest Mausoleum
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Sons of Israel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Pikes Peak National Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Pioneer Park Memorial
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer Park Memorial
    • The Pioneer Park Memorial has also been known as:
    • Mesa Cemetery
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Paupers' Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Helen Hunt Jackson Memorial
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Jackson Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Bouma / Briggs Grave
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Mt. St. Francis Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. St. Francis Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mt. St. Francis Cemetery is located 7 miles [11.3 km]<3> to the north of Colorado Springs.
    • The Mt. St. Francis Cemetery has also been known as:
    • St. Francis Cemetery
  • Continue List   (41 more) ...
    • Crystal Valley Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Eastonville Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastonville Cemetery
      • The Eastonville Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Shadeland Cemetery
    • Capps Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)

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 in 1895, Elsmere had railroad service and no post office.

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

  • Colorado Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Colorado Springs is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colorado Springs
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 482,131 people
    • Former names for Colorado Springs:
    • El Paso
    • Fountain Colony
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colorado Springs <1>
  • Kelker
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Kelker is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelker
  • Pikeview
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Pikeview is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pikeview
  • Ivywild
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Ivywild is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivywild
  • Falcon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Widefield
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Manitou Springs
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Fountain
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Eastonville ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Eastonville is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastonville
  • Peyton
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Monument
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Green Mountain Falls
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Buttes
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Buttes is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buttes
    • Palmer Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Wigwam
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Wigwam is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wigwam

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

Newspapers Published in Elsmere ...

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 149 newspapers that have been published in the area around Elsmere.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Elsmere, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Elsmere.

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 Elsmere:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Elsmere) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Elsmere, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.