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 Ridgewood (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 Ridgewood. 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.
Ridgewood is located in Boulder 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 Boulder County: Adams, Gilpin, Grand, Jefferson, Larimer & Weld.
Below are the counties that are near Ridgewood. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Ridgewood:
- Boulder County (The home county of Ridgewood)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Pinecliffe
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Tungsten ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Tungsten is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tungsten
- Magnolia
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Magnolia is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
- Wondervu
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Wondervu is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wondervu
- Crescent Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Crescent Village is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Village
- Nederland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Nederland is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nederland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,557 people
- Former names for Nederland:
- Browns Crossing
- Dayton
- Middle Boulder
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nederland <1>
- Wallstreet
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Wallstreet is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallstreet
- Gold Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Gold Hill is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Hill
- Salina
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Salina is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salina
- Rowena
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Rowena is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowena
- Sunshine
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Sunshine is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunshine
- Eldora
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Eldora is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldora
- Former names for Eldora:
- El Dora
- Eldorado
- Eldora has also been known as:
- Happy Valley
- Boulder
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Adams County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Federal Heights
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Westminster
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Holiday Hills Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Northglenn
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Berkley
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Berkley is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkley
- Hidden Lake
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Hidden Lake is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Lake
- Eastlake
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Sherrelwood
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Sherrelwood is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherrelwood
- Western Hills
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Western Hills is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Western Hills
- Twin Lakes
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Twin Lakes is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
- Darlow ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Darlow is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darlow
- Little Texas ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Little Texas is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Texas
- North Washington
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- North Washington is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Washington
- Arapahoe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Bow Mar
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bow Mar is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bow Mar
- Population from the 2020 Census: 947 people
- Fort Logan ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Fort Logan is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Logan
- Sheridan
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Broomfield County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Broomfield Heights
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Broomfield Heights is located in Broomfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broomfield Heights
- Broomfield
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Clear Creek County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Alice
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Alice is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alice
- Saint Mary's
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Saint Mary's is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Mary's
- Idaho Springs
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Dumont
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Downieville - Lawson - Dumont
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Downieville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Lawson
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Lawson is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawson
- Silver Creek ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Silver Creek is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
- Empire
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Berthoud Pass
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Berthoud Pass is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berthoud Pass
- Georgetown
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Brookvale
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Brookvale is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookvale
- Silverdale ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Silverdale is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silverdale
- Denver County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- West Denver
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- West Denver is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Denver
- Denver
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Denver is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denver
- Population from the 2020 Census: 735,538 people
- Former names for Denver:
- Auraina
- Denver City
- Montana City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Denver <1>
- Cherry Creek
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Cherry Creek is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Creek
- Sandown
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Sandown is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandown
- Gilpin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Rollinsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- American City ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- American City is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for American City
- Apex ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Apex is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apex
- Black Hawk
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Central City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Kingston ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Kingston is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
- Smith Hill ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Smith Hill is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Hill
- Nevadaville ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Nevadaville is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nevadaville
- Nevadaville has also been known as:
- Bald Mountain
- Nevada City
- Cottonwood
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Cottonwood is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
- Russell Gulch
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Russell Gulch is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell Gulch
- Grand County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Winter Park
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Fraser
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Tabernash
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Granby
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Grand Lake
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Coal Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Coal Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Creek
- Twin Spruce
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Twin Spruce is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Spruce
- Wallace Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Wallace Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallace Village
- Arapahoe ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Arapahoe is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arapahoe
- Golden
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Oak Park
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Oak Park is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Park
- Bergen Park
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Bergen Park is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bergen Park
- Applewood
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Applewood is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Applewood
- Applewood Village
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Applewood Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Applewood Village
- Genesee
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- West Pleasant View
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- West Pleasant View is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pleasant View
- Arvada
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- East Pleasant View
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- East Pleasant View is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Pleasant View
- Larimer County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Big Elk Meadows
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Big Elk Meadows is located in Larimer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Elk Meadows
- Estes Park
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Berthoud
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Weld County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Frederick
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Dacono
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Firestone
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Highland Lake
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Highland Lake is located in Weld County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Lake
- Mead
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Ridgewood, see our County-by-County Page for Ridgewood.
Cemeteries Near Ridgewood ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ridgewood.
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 Ridgewood - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Ridgewood covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Nederland Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Salina Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Gold Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Columbia Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Eldorado Springs Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Green Mtn. Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Mtn. Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Green Mtn. Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Boulder.
- The Green Mtn. Cemetery has also been known as:
- Green Mtn. Memorial Park
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #57314 <2>
- Dory Hill Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Mountain View Memorial Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Mountain View Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Jamestown Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Masonic Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Catholic Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (78 more) ...
- IOOF Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- City Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Foresters Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
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 Ridgewood in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Ridgewood.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Magnolia
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Magnolia is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
- Sugarloaf
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Sugarloaf is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugarloaf
- Nederland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Nederland is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nederland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,557 people
- Former names for Nederland:
- Browns Crossing
- Dayton
- Middle Boulder
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nederland <1>
- Rollinsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Sunset ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Sunset is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset
- Crisman
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Crisman is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crisman
- Salina
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Salina is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salina
- Gold Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Gold Hill is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Hill
- Sunshine
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Sunshine is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunshine
- Boulder
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Caribou ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Caribou is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caribou
- Caribou has also been known as:
- Caribou City
- Marshall
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Marshall is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Springdale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Springdale is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springdale
- Jamestown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Black Hawk
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Ridgewood. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ridgewood.
Newspapers Published in Ridgewood ...
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 78 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ridgewood.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ridgewood, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ridgewood.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Ridgewood:
- Websites specific to Colorado
- Pages specific to Boulder County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Adams County
- Arapahoe County
- Broomfield County
- Clear Creek County
- Denver County
- Gilpin County
- Grand County
- Jefferson County
- Larimer County
- Weld County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Colorado
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 Ridgewood, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Ridgewood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |