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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 Riverdale (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 Riverdale. 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 hospitals and doctors 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.

Riverdale is located in Bent 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 Bent County: Baca, Kiowa, Las Animas, Otero & Prowers.

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

  • Bent County     (The home county of Riverdale)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
    • Las Animas
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Fort Lyon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Lyon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Lyon
      • Fort Lyon is located in Bent County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fort Lyon <1>
    • Hilton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hilton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilton
      • Hilton is located in Bent County
    • Caddoa ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Caddoa. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caddoa
      • Caddoa is located in Bent County
    • Hasty
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • McClave
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McClave have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McClave
      • McClave is located in Bent County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McClave <1>
    • Ninaview
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ninaview have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ninaview
      • Ninaview is located in Bent County
  • Crowley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
    • Sugar City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar City
      • Sugar City is located in Crowley County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 244 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sugar City <1>
    • Ordway
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ordway have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ordway
      • Ordway is located in Crowley County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,013 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ordway <1>
    • Crowley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Kiowa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
    • Arlington
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Arlington. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
      • Arlington is located in Kiowa County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arlington <1>
    • Haswell
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Haswell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haswell
      • Haswell is located in Kiowa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 74 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Haswell <1>
  • Otero County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
    • Cheraw
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • La Junta Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Junta Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Junta Village
      • La Junta Village is located in Otero County
    • La Junta
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Swink
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Swink have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swink
      • Swink is located in Otero County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 595 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Swink <1>
    • Higbee
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Higbee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Higbee
      • Higbee is located in Otero County
    • Benton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Benton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
      • Benton is located in Otero County
    • Hawley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawley
      • Hawley is located in Otero County
    • Rocky Ford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ford
      • Rocky Ford is located in Otero County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,806 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rocky Ford <1>
    • Manzanola
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manzanola have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manzanola
      • Manzanola is located in Otero County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manzanola <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Riverdale ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Riverdale.

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

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

  • Las Animas Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Las Animas Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Las Animas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Paul's Lutheran Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Paul's Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Paul's Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ft. Lyon National Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ft. Lyon National Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ft. Lyon National Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Holbrook Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holbrook Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holbrook Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Calvary Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northwest of La Junta.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2146283 <4>
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Otero County Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Otero County Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Otero County Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Arlington Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Arlington Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Arlington Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Union Valley Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Valley Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Union Valley Cemetery is located outside and to the south of Hasty.
    • The Union Valley Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Hasty Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #57593 <4>
  • Indian Rock Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Rock Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Rock Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Higbee Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Higbee Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Higbee Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillcrest Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillcrest Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillcrest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Valley View Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Valley View Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Valley View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Lakeview Cemetery
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeview Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakeview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Pruett Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pruett Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pruett Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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>

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

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

  • Las Animas
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • La Junta
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Hilton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hilton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilton
    • Hilton is located in Bent County
  • Caddoa ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Caddoa. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caddoa
    • Caddoa is located in Bent County
  • Arlington
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Arlington. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
    • Arlington is located in Kiowa County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arlington <1>
  • Higbee
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Higbee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Higbee
    • Higbee is located in Otero County
  • Benton
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Benton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
    • Benton is located in Otero County
  • Rocky Ford
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ford
    • Rocky Ford is located in Otero County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,806 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rocky Ford <1>
  • Haswell
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Haswell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haswell
    • Haswell is located in Kiowa County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 74 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Haswell <1>
  • Timpas
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Timpas have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timpas
    • Timpas is located in Otero County
  • Prowers
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prowers have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prowers
    • Prowers is located in Bent County

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

Newspapers Published in Riverdale ...

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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around Riverdale.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Riverdale, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Riverdale.

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 Riverdale:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Riverdale. 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>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 Riverdale, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Riverdale) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Riverdale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0586, Longitude: -103.3166       In this case, the coordinates for Riverdale have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025