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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 Rifle (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 Rifle. 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 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.

Rifle is located in Garfield 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 Garfield County: Eagle, Mesa, Pitkin, Rio Blanco, Routt, Grand (UT) & Uintah (UT).

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

  • Garfield County     (The home county of Rifle)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rifle, with the one closest to Rifle listed first.
    • Silt
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silt have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silt
      • Silt is located in Garfield County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,109 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silt <2>
    • New Castle
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Battlement Mesa
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Battlement Mesa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Battlement Mesa
      • Battlement Mesa is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Battlement Mesa <2>
    • Parachute
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parachute
      • Parachute is located in Garfield County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,114 people
      • Former name for Parachute:
      • Grand Valley
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parachute <2>
    • Chacra
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chacra
      • Chacra is located in Garfield County
    • Una
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Una have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Una
      • Una is located in Garfield County
    • Glenwood Springs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Cardiff
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cardiff have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardiff
      • Cardiff is located in Garfield County
    • Carbonate ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carbonate have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbonate
      • Carbonate is located in Garfield County
  • Mesa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rifle, with the one closest to Rifle listed first.
    • Collbran
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Collbran have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collbran
      • Collbran is located in Mesa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 727 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Collbran <2>
    • Plateau City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plateau City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plateau City
      • Plateau City is located in Mesa County
    • De Beque
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Molina
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Rifle ...

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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rifle.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Rifle. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Rifle and those printed in the larger area surrounding Rifle.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<3> of Rifle.

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 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 Rifle:

Cemeteries Near Rifle ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rifle.

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

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

  • Rose Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rose Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rose Hill Cemetery
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
  • Battlement Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Battlement Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Battlement Cemetery
  • High Land Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the High Land Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the High Land Cemetery
  • Russey - Hurlburt Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Russey - Hurlburt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Russey - Hurlburt Cemetery
  • Clover Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clover Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clover Cemetery
  • Cedar Crest Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cedar Crest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cedar Crest Cemetery
  • Eagalite Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Eagalite Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eagalite Cemetery
  • Rosebud Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rosebud Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rosebud Cemetery
  • De Beque Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Marion Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Marion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Marion 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Rifle had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Rifle had a population of 9,775 people.

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

  • Antlers
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Antlers have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antlers
    • Antlers is located in Garfield County
  • New Castle
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Parachute
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parachute
    • Parachute is located in Garfield County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,114 people
    • Former name for Parachute:
    • Grand Valley
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parachute <2>
  • Chacra
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chacra
    • Chacra is located in Garfield County
  • Una
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Una have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Una
    • Una is located in Garfield County
  • Glenwood Springs
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
  • Cardiff
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cardiff have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardiff
    • Cardiff is located in Garfield County
  • De Beque
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Cattle Creek
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cattle Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cattle Creek
    • Cattle Creek is located in Garfield County

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

The official website for Rifle: www.rifleco.org/

The official website for Garfield County: www.garfield-county.com/

The official website for State of Colorado: https://www.colorado.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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- Rifle) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rifle. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5335, Longitude: -107.7833       In this case, the coordinates for Rifle have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Rifle, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024