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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 Mesita (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 Mesita. 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 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 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.

Mesita is located in Costilla 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 Costilla County: Alamosa, Conejos, Huerfano, Las Animas, Colfax (NM) & Taos (NM).

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

  • Costilla County     (The home county of Mesita)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mesita, with the one closest to Mesita listed first.
    • Jaroso
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jaroso have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Garcia
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garcia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garcia
      • Garcia is located in Costilla County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garcia <2>
    • San Acacio
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • San Pablo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for San Pablo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Pablo
      • San Pablo is located in Costilla County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Pablo <2>
    • San Luis
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for San Luis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Chama
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chama have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chama
      • Chama is located in Costilla County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chama <2>
    • Blanca
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Fort Garland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Garland City ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garland City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland City
      • Garland City is located in Costilla County
  • Alamosa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mesita, with the one closest to Mesita listed first.
    • Henry
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
      • Henry is located in Alamosa County
    • Alamosa East
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamosa East
      • Alamosa East is located in Alamosa County
    • Alamosa
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Conejos County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mesita, with the one closest to Mesita listed first.
    • Sanford
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sanford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Manassa
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Romeo
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Romeo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Bountiful
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bountiful
      • Bountiful is located in Conejos County
    • Antonito
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • La Jara
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Conejos
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Ortiz
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ortiz
      • Ortiz is located in Conejos County
    • Paisaje
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paisaje have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paisaje
      • Paisaje is located in Conejos County
    • Mogote
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mogote
      • Mogote is located in Conejos County
    • Capulin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Capulin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capulin
      • Capulin is located in Conejos County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Capulin <2>
  • Rio Arriba County (NM)
    • Lava ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lava have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lava
      • Lava is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
  • Taos County (NM)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mesita, with the one closest to Mesita listed first.
    • Costilla
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Amalia
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amalia
      • Amalia is located in Taos County (NM)
    • Ventero
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ventero
      • Ventero is located in Taos County (NM)
    • Buena Vista
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Cerro
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Questa
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Questa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Questa
      • Questa is located in Taos County (NM)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,741 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Questa <2>
    • Red River
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Lama
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lama
      • Lama is located in Taos County (NM)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Mesita ...

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 49 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mesita.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Mesita. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Mesita and those printed in the larger area surrounding Mesita.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4> of Mesita.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Mesita:

Cemeteries Near Mesita ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mesita.

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 Mesita covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Jaroso Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • The Jaroso Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Mountain View Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jaroso Cemetery
  • Garcia Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Old Town Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Lasauses Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lasauses Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lasauses Cemetery
  • Chama Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chama Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chama Cemetery
  • San Pedro Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the San Pedro Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the San Pedro Cemetery
  • Sunshine Valley Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • New Manassa Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Manassa Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Manassa Cemetery
  • Lobatos Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lobatos Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lobatos Cemetery
  • Nance Family Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • 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.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nance Family Cemetery
  • Old Manassa Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (25 more) ...
    • Soward Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Soward Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Soward Cemetery
    • Sanford Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sanford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sanford Cemetery
    • Latir Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Latir Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Latir Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #38177 <5>

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

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

  • Costilla
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • San Luis
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for San Luis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Lasauses
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lasauses have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lasauses
    • Lasauses is located in Conejos County
  • Los Cerritos
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Los Cerritos have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Cerritos
    • Los Cerritos is located in Conejos County
  • Sanford
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sanford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Manassa
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Antonito
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Cerro
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
  • Blanca
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
  • La Jara
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • Conejos
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • Fort Garland
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Ortiz
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ortiz
      • Ortiz is located in Conejos County
    • Questa
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Questa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Questa
      • Questa is located in Taos County (NM)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,741 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Questa <2>
    • Lava ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lava have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • 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 Mesita. See our List of 1890's Communities around Mesita.

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Mesita) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Mesita. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0984, Longitude: -105.6020       In this case, the coordinates for Mesita have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<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 Mesita, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024