RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Colorado >> Weld County >> Prospect Valley >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Prospect Valley (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 Prospect Valley. 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 Prospect Valley ...

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 occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Prospect Valley: Prospect Vly. (or less commonly used: Prospect Vally. or Prospect Vlly.)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Prospect Valley. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Prospect Valley.

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and 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.

Prospect Valley is located in Weld 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 Weld County: Adams, Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer, Logan, Morgan, Kimball (NE) & Laramie (WY).

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

  • Weld County     (The home county of Prospect Valley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Prospect Valley, with the one closest to Prospect Valley listed first.
    • Johnson
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Johnson is located in Weld County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson
    • Keenesburg
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Roggen
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Hudson
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Dearfield ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Dearfield is located in Weld County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dearfield
    • Lochbuie
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Lochbuie is located in Weld County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lochbuie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,885 people
    • Aristocrat Ranchettes
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Hardin
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Hardin is located in Weld County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardin
    • Fort Lupton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Spanish Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Spanish Village is located in Weld County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Village
    • Wattenberg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Wattenberg is located in Weld County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wattenberg
    • Kersey
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Platteville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • Adams County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Prospect Valley, with the one closest to Prospect Valley listed first.
    • Comanche ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Comanche is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comanche
    • Bennett
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Brighton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Strasburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Commerce City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Watkins
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Todd Creek
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Todd Creek is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Todd Creek
    • Henderson
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Darlow ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Darlow is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darlow
    • Little Texas ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Little Texas is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Texas
    • Cabin Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Cabin Creek is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cabin Creek
    • Dupont
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Eastlake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Arapahoe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Prospect Valley, with the one closest to Prospect Valley listed first.
    • Byers
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Altura
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Altura is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altura
  • Denver County
  • Morgan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Prospect Valley, with the one closest to Prospect Valley listed first.
    • Hoyt
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Hoyt is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoyt
    • Wiggins
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Orchard
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Weldona
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Prospect Valley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Prospect Valley.

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 Prospect Valley - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Hoyt Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Mt. View Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Wiggins Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Black Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • Elmwood Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • Mizpah Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mizpah Cemetery
    • Former name for Mizpah Cemetery:
    • Sandhill Cemetery
  • Remember The Ten Crash Site Memorial
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
  • Woolsey Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...

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.<3>

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

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

  • Roggen
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Hudson
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Masters
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Masters is located in Weld County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Masters
  • Hardin
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Hardin is located in Weld County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardin
  • Fort Lupton
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Platteville
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • La Salle
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Evans
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Goodrich
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Goodrich is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodrich
  • Byers
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Dick
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Dick is located in Weld County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dick
  • Saint Vrains
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Saint Vrains is located in Weld County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Vrains
  • Greeley
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Hillsboro
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hillsboro is located in Weld County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsboro

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

Newspapers Published in Prospect Valley ...

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 30 newspapers that have been published in the area around Prospect Valley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Prospect Valley, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Prospect Valley.

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 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 Prospect Valley:

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 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.
<3>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 Prospect Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 from Point A (ie- Prospect Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.