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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 Richfield (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 Richfield. 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 southwest 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 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 west 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.

Richfield is located in Conejos 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 Conejos County: Alamosa, Archuleta, Costilla, Rio Grande, Rio Arriba (NM) & Taos (NM).

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

  • Conejos County     (The home county of Richfield)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Richfield, with the one closest to Richfield listed first.
    • La Jara
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Sanford
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sanford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bountiful
      • Bountiful is located in Conejos County
    • Manassa
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Romeo
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Romeo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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>
    • Capulin
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Conejos
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Antonito
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Paisaje
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paisaje
      • Paisaje is located in Conejos County
    • Mogote
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mogote
      • Mogote is located in Conejos County
    • Ortiz
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ortiz
      • Ortiz is located in Conejos County
    • Osier
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osier
      • Osier is located in Conejos County
  • Alamosa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Richfield, with the one closest to Richfield listed first.
    • Henry
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
      • Henry is located in Alamosa County
    • Waverly
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverly
      • Waverly is located in Alamosa County
    • Alamosa
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Alamosa East
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • 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
    • Parma
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parma
      • Parma is located in Alamosa County
    • Mosca
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mosca have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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>
  • Costilla County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Richfield, with the one closest to Richfield listed first.
    • San Acacio
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Jaroso
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jaroso have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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>
    • Blanca
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fort Garland
      (29 miles [46.7 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.<2> 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>
    • Garcia
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garcia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
  • Rio Grande County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Richfield, with the one closest to Richfield listed first.
    • Homelake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Homelake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monte Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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>
    • Jasper ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 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.<3>
      • 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 Richfield, with the one closest to Richfield listed first.
    • Lava ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lava
      • Lava is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
    • Sublette
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sublette
      • Sublette is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
  • Taos County (NM)

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

Cemeteries Near Richfield ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Richfield.

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

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

  • La Jara Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sanford Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Nance Family Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 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.<3>
  • Soward Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Manassa Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Manassa Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Capulin Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gate to Heaven Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • 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]<4> 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 <5>
  • Lasauses Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Los Lasauses Pentecostal Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • 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]<4> 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 <5>
  • Los Sauces Church Yard Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (34 more) ...
    • Becker Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • 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]<4> to the northwest of Alamosa.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #57172 <5>
    • Alamosa Municipal Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Alamosa Spanish Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)

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

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

  • La Jara
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Sanford
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sanford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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>
  • Manassa
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Los Cerritos
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Los Cerritos have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Cerritos
    • Los Cerritos is located in Conejos County
  • Capulin
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Lasauses
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lasauses have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lasauses
    • Lasauses is located in Conejos County
  • Conejos
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Antonito
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Parma
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • 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.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parma
    • Parma is located in Alamosa County
  • Ortiz
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ortiz
    • Ortiz is located in Conejos County
  • Lava ‑ Historic
    (22 miles [35.4 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.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lava
    • Lava is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
  • Big Horn
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Horn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Horn
    • Big Horn is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Monte Vista
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monte Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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>
    • Sublette
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sublette
      • Sublette is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
    • Blanca
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Richfield ...

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 Richfield.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Richfield, 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 Richfield.

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 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 Richfield:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Richfield. 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>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 from Point A (ie- Richfield) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Richfield. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.2778, Longitude: -105.9450       In this case, the coordinates for Richfield 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 Richfield, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025