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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 Ouray (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 Ouray. 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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Ouray is located in Ouray County and is the County Seat.

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 Ouray County: Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose, San Juan & San Miguel.

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

  • Ouray County     (The home county of Ouray)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ouray, with the one closest to Ouray listed first.
    • Red Mountain ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Ridgway
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Dallas
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Loghill Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loghill Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loghill Village
      • Loghill Village is located in Ouray County
    • Eldredge
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Colona
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
  • Dolores County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ouray, with the one closest to Ouray listed first.
    • Dunton ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Rico
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rico have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rico
      • Rico is located in Dolores County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 262 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rico <1>
  • Hinsdale County
  • Montrose County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ouray, with the one closest to Ouray listed first.
    • Uncompahgre
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Vernal
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Vernal. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernal
      • Vernal is located in Montrose County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Vernal
      • From Ouray to Vernal
    • Cimarron
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • San Juan County
  • San Miguel County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ouray, with the one closest to Ouray listed first.
    • Tomboy ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tomboy. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomboy
      • Tomboy is located in San Miguel County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Tomboy
      • From Ouray to Tomboy
    • Pandora
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Liberty Bell ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Telluride
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • San Miguel ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Mountain Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Village
      • Mountain Village is located in San Miguel County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,470 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mountain Village <1>
    • Keystone ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Alta ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Ilium
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ilium. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ilium
      • Ilium is located in San Miguel County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ilium
      • From Ouray to Ilium
    • Vance Junction
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Ophir
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Ames ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ames. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ames
      • Ames is located in San Miguel County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ames
      • From Ouray to Ames

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

Cemeteries Near Ouray ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ouray.

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

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

  • Cedar Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cedar Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cedar Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lone Tree Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lone Tree Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lone Tree Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lone Tree Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Dallas Park Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dallas Park Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dallas Park Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dallas Park Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dallas Park Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dallas Park Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Old Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Colona Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Colona Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Colona Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Nurse - Brownlee Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nurse - Brownlee Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nurse - Brownlee Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Button Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Button Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Button Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Uncompahgre Memorial Gardens
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Uncompahgre Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Uncompahgre Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Ouray had a population of 2,534 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Ouray had a population of 1,046 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Ouray ...

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 87 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ouray.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Ouray. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Ouray and those printed in the larger area surrounding Ouray.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6> of Ouray.

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 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 Ouray:

The official website for Ouray: www.ci.ouray.co.us/

The official website for Ouray County: www.co.ouray.co.us/

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>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.
<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>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>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 Ouray, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Ouray) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ouray. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0228, Longitude: -107.6715    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025