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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 Estrella (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 Estrella. 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 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.

Estrella is located in Alamosa County.

To see how the shape of Colorado's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Alamosa County: Conejos, Costilla, Huerfano, Rio Grande & Saguache.

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

  • Alamosa County     (The home county of Estrella)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Estrella, with the one closest to Estrella listed first.
    • Henry
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
      • Henry is located in Alamosa County
    • Waverly
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverly
      • Waverly is located in Alamosa County
    • Alamosa
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Alamosa East
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alamosa East. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamosa East
      • Alamosa East is located in Alamosa County
    • Parma
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Parma. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parma
      • Parma is located in Alamosa County
    • Mosca
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mosca have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mosca
      • Mosca is located in Alamosa County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mosca <1>
    • Hooper
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Conejos County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Estrella, with the one closest to Estrella listed first.
    • La Jara
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Sanford
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sanford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanford
      • Sanford is located in Conejos County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 900 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sanford <1>
    • Bountiful
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bountiful
      • Bountiful is located in Conejos County
    • Capulin
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Manassa
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Romeo
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Romeo have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romeo
      • Romeo is located in Conejos County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 417 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Romeo <1>
    • Conejos
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Antonito
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Paisaje
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Paisaje. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paisaje
      • Paisaje is located in Conejos County
    • Mogote
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mogote
      • Mogote is located in Conejos County
    • Ortiz
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ortiz
      • Ortiz is located in Conejos County
  • Costilla County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Estrella, with the one closest to Estrella listed first.
    • San Acacio
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Blanca
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Fort Garland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • San Luis
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for San Luis have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Luis
      • San Luis is located in Costilla County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 692 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Luis <1>
    • Jaroso
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jaroso have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jaroso
      • Jaroso is located in Costilla County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jaroso <1>
  • Rio Grande County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Estrella, with the one closest to Estrella listed first.
    • Homelake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Homelake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homelake
      • Homelake is located in Rio Grande County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Homelake <1>
    • Monte Vista
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monte Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monte Vista
      • Monte Vista is located in Rio Grande County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,067 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Monte Vista <1>
    • Center
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center
      • Center is located in Rio Grande County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,385 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Center <1>
    • Jasper ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jasper. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jasper
      • Jasper is located in Rio Grande County
  • Rio Arriba County (NM)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Estrella, with the one closest to Estrella listed first.
    • Lava ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lava. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lava
      • Lava is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
    • Sublette
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sublette
      • Sublette is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)

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

Cemeteries Near Estrella ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Estrella.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • La Jara Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the La Jara Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the La Jara Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Alamosa Municipal Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Alamosa Spanish Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Sanford Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sanford Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sanford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Becker Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Becker Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Becker Cemetery is located 10 miles [16.1 km]<5> to the northwest of Alamosa.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #57172 <4>
  • Capulin Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Capulin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Capulin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Los Sauces Church Yard Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Los Lasauses Pentecostal Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Los Lasauses Pentecostal Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Los Lasauses Pentecostal Cemetery is located 8 miles [12.9 km]<5> to the west of Sanford.
    • The Los Lasauses Pentecostal Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Assembly of God Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2335304 <4>
  • Gate to Heaven Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gate to Heaven Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Gate to Heaven Cemetery is located 8 miles [12.9 km]<5> to the west of Sanford.
    • The Gate to Heaven Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Los Lasauses Catholic Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #57390 <4>
  • Lasauses Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lasauses Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lasauses Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Soward Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Soward Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Soward Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (33 more) ...
    • Nance Family Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nance Family Cemetery
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Nance Family Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Old Manassa Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • New Manassa Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Manassa Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Manassa Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<6>

While we didn't find Estrella in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Estrella.

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

  • La Jara
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Sanford
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sanford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanford
    • Sanford is located in Conejos County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 900 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sanford <1>
  • Capulin
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Lasauses
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lasauses have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lasauses
    • Lasauses is located in Conejos County
  • Manassa
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Parma
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Parma. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parma
    • Parma is located in Alamosa County
  • Los Cerritos
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Los Cerritos have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Cerritos
    • Los Cerritos is located in Conejos County
  • Conejos
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Monte Vista
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monte Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monte Vista
    • Monte Vista is located in Rio Grande County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,067 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Monte Vista <1>
  • Antonito
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Blanca
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Ortiz
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ortiz
    • Ortiz is located in Conejos County
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Hooper
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Fort Garland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Lava ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lava. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lava
      • Lava is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)

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

Newspapers Published in Estrella ...

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 54 newspapers that have been published in the area around Estrella.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Estrella, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Estrella.

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 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 Estrella:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Estrella. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Colorado: https://www.colorado.gov/

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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>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.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Estrella) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Estrella. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3661, Longitude: -105.9245       In this case, the coordinates for Estrella have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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 Estrella, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025