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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 Espinosa (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 Espinosa. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

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

  • Conejos County     (The home county of Espinosa)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Espinosa, with the one closest to Espinosa listed first.
    • Manassa
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Romeo
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Antonito
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Conejos
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Bountiful
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Bountiful is located in Conejos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bountiful
    • Paisaje
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Paisaje is located in Conejos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paisaje
    • La Jara
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Sanford
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Mogote
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Mogote is located in Conejos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mogote
    • Ortiz
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Ortiz is located in Conejos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ortiz
    • Capulin
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Osier
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Osier is located in Conejos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osier
    • Cumbres
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Cumbres is located in Conejos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumbres
  • Alamosa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Espinosa, with the one closest to Espinosa listed first.
    • Henry
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Henry is located in Alamosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
    • Waverly
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Waverly is located in Alamosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverly
    • Alamosa
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Alamosa East
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Alamosa East is located in Alamosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamosa East
    • Parma
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Parma is located in Alamosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parma
  • Costilla County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Espinosa, with the one closest to Espinosa listed first.
    • Jaroso
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • San Acacio
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Garcia
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • San Luis
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • San Pablo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Rio Arriba County (NM)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Espinosa, with the one closest to Espinosa listed first.
    • Lava ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Lava is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lava
    • Sublette
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Sublette is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sublette
  • Taos County (NM)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Espinosa, with the one closest to Espinosa listed first.
    • Costilla
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Amalia
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Amalia is located in Taos County (NM)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amalia
    • Buena Vista
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Espinosa ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Espinosa.

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

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

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

  • New Manassa Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Old Manassa Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • 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.
  • Nance Family Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • 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
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Conejos Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Warshaver Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Antonio Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Lobatos Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Sanford Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • San Antonio Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Mogote Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mogote Cemetery
    • The Mogote Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Mogote Presbyterian Cemetery
  • Old Ortiz Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (24 more) ...
    • Las Mesitas Catholic Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Ortiz Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Martinez Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • 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>

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

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

  • Los Cerritos
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Los Cerritos is located in Conejos County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Cerritos
  • Manassa
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Conejos
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Antonito
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Sanford
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • La Jara
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Ortiz
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Ortiz is located in Conejos County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ortiz
  • Lava ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Lava is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lava
  • Capulin
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Lasauses
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Lasauses is located in Conejos County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lasauses
  • Big Horn
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Big Horn is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Horn
  • Sublette
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Sublette is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sublette
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Toltec
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Toltec is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toltec
    • Costilla
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Cumbres
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Cumbres is located in Conejos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumbres

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

Newspapers Published in Espinosa ...

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 41 newspapers that have been published in the area around Espinosa.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Espinosa, 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 Espinosa.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Espinosa:

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Espinosa) 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 Espinosa, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.