RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Colorado >> Bent County >> Ruxton >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Colorado


The Commemorative Quarter for Colorado







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

Ruxton 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 Ruxton. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Ruxton:

  • Bent County     (The home county of Ruxton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ruxton, with the one closest to Ruxton listed first.
    • Ninaview
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ninaview have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ninaview
      • Ninaview is located in Bent County
    • Hilton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilton
      • Hilton is located in Bent County
    • Las Animas
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Caddoa ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caddoa
      • Caddoa is located in Bent County
    • Fort Lyon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Lyon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <3>
    • Hasty
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Baca County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ruxton, with the one closest to Ruxton listed first.
    • Atlanta
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Atlanta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlanta
      • Atlanta is located in Baca County
    • Pritchett
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pritchett have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pritchett
      • Pritchett is located in Baca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 130 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pritchett <3>
  • Otero County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ruxton, with the one closest to Ruxton listed first.
    • Higbee
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Higbee
      • Higbee is located in Otero County
    • La Junta
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • La Junta Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Junta Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Junta Village
      • La Junta Village is located in Otero County
    • Benton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Benton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
      • Benton is located in Otero County

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

Cemeteries Near Ruxton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ruxton.

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

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

  • Pruett Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Higbee Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Indian Rock Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maxey Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maxey Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maxey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Martinez Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Martinez Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Martinez Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • San Jose Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the San Jose Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the San Jose Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Las Animas Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Little Kansas Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Little Kansas Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Little Kansas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cedar Hill Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cedar Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cedar Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ft. Lyon National Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Robb Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Robb Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Robb Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • St. Paul's Lutheran Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Union Valley Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • 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>
    • Calvary Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • 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>

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

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

  • Higbee
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • 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.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Higbee
    • Higbee is located in Otero County
  • Atlanta
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Atlanta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlanta
    • Atlanta is located in Baca County
  • Brookfield ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brookfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield
    • Brookfield is located in Baca County
  • Las Animas
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Caddoa ‑ Historic
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • 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.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caddoa
    • Caddoa is located in Bent County
  • Hilton
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • 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.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilton
    • Hilton is located in Bent County
  • La Junta
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Benton
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Benton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
    • Benton is located in Otero County

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

Newspapers Published in Ruxton ...

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 7 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ruxton.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ruxton, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ruxton.

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 Ruxton:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ruxton. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

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>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Ruxton, 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- Ruxton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ruxton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.7481, Longitude: -103.1466       In this case, the coordinates for Ruxton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).









 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025