RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Colorado >> Chaffee County >> Poncha Springs >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Colorado

The Commemorative Quarter for Colorado





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 Poncha Springs (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 Poncha Springs. 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.

Name Variations for Poncha Springs ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Poncha Springs: Poncha Spgs. (or less commonly used: Poncha Spngs. or Poncha Sprngs.)

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 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.

Poncha Springs is located in Chaffee 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 Chaffee County: Fremont, Gunnison, Lake, Park, Pitkin & Saguache.

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

  • Chaffee County     (The home county of Poncha Springs)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Poncha Springs, with the one closest to Poncha Springs listed first.
    • Salida
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Belleview
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belleview have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview
      • Belleview is located in Chaffee County
    • Mears Junction
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mears Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mears Junction
      • Mears Junction is located in Chaffee County
    • Browns Canon
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Browns Canon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Canon
      • Browns Canon is located in Chaffee County
    • Maysville ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
      • Maysville is located in Chaffee County
    • Turret ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turret
      • Turret is located in Chaffee County
    • Monarch
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Nathrop
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nathrop have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nathrop
      • Nathrop is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nathrop <1>
    • Hancock ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
      • Hancock is located in Chaffee County
    • Iron City ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iron City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron City
      • Iron City is located in Chaffee County
    • Saint Elmo ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Elmo
      • Saint Elmo is located in Chaffee County
    • Johnson Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Johnson Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson Village
      • Johnson Village is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Johnson Village <1>
    • Buena Vista
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buena Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
      • Buena Vista is located in Chaffee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,116 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buena Vista <1>
  • Fremont County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Poncha Springs, with the one closest to Poncha Springs listed first.
    • Wellsville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsville
      • Wellsville is located in Fremont County
    • Calcite ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Calcite have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calcite
      • Calcite is located in Fremont County
    • Howard
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Vallie
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vallie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vallie
      • Vallie is located in Fremont County
    • Coaldale
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Cotopaxi
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Hillside
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillside have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside
      • Hillside is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hillside <1>
  • Gunnison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Poncha Springs, with the one closest to Poncha Springs listed first.
    • Whitepine
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitepine
      • Whitepine is located in Gunnison County
      • Whitepine has also been known as:
      • White Pine
    • Bowerman ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bowerman. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowerman
      • Bowerman is located in Gunnison County
      • Bowerman has also been known as:
      • Camp Bowerman
      • Nugget City
    • Pitkin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Tincup
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tincup
      • Tincup is located in Gunnison County
    • Abbeyville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbeyville
      • Abbeyville is located in Gunnison County
      • Former name for Abbeyville:
      • Hillerton
    • Ohio City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Saguache County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Poncha Springs, with the one closest to Poncha Springs listed first.
    • Bonanza
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonanza
      • Bonanza is located in Saguache County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21 people
    • Kerper City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kerper City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kerper City
      • Kerper City is located in Saguache County
    • Villa Grove
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Villa Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa Grove
      • Villa Grove is located in Saguache County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Villa Grove <1>
    • Sargents
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sargents have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sargents
      • Sargents is located in Saguache County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sargents <1>
    • Spook City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spook City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spook City
      • Spook City is located in Saguache County
    • Saguache
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saguache have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saguache
      • Saguache is located in Saguache County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 531 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saguache <1>

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

Newspapers Published in Poncha Springs ...

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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around Poncha Springs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Poncha Springs, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Poncha Springs.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Poncha Springs:

Cemeteries Near Poncha Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Poncha Springs.

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

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

  • Poncha Springs Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Cleora Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Centerville Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Centerville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Centerville Cemetery
  • Howard Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Howard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Howard Cemetery
  • Tomichi Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tomichi Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tomichi Cemetery
  • White Pine Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the White Pine Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the White Pine Cemetery
  • Villa Grove Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Villa Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Villa Grove Cemetery
  • Whites Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Whites Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Whites Cemetery
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Pitkin Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pitkin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pitkin Cemetery
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Jacks Creek Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jacks Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jacks Creek Cemetery
    • Boothill Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Tincup Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tincup Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tincup Cemetery

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Poncha Springs had a population of 101 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Poncha Springs had a population of 1,134 people.

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

  • Mears Junction
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mears Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mears Junction
    • Mears Junction is located in Chaffee County
  • Salida
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Belleview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belleview have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview
    • Belleview is located in Chaffee County
  • Cleora
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cleora have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleora
    • Cleora is located in Chaffee County
  • Browns Canon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Browns Canon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Canon
    • Browns Canon is located in Chaffee County
  • Maysville ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
    • Maysville is located in Chaffee County
  • Wellsville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsville
    • Wellsville is located in Fremont County
  • Alder ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alder have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alder
    • Alder is located in Saguache County
  • Garfield ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
    • Garfield is located in Chaffee County
  • Monarch
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Howard
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Chester
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chester have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
    • Chester is located in Saguache County
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Bonanza
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonanza
      • Bonanza is located in Saguache County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21 people
    • Nathrop
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nathrop have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nathrop
      • Nathrop is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nathrop <1>
    • Alpine ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpine have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
      • Alpine is located in Chaffee County

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

The official website for Poncha Springs: www.ponchaspringscolorado.us/

The official website for Chaffee County: www.chaffeecounty.org/

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>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- Poncha Springs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Poncha Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.5146, Longitude: -106.0766    
<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 Poncha Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024