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 San Luis (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 San Luis. 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.
Name Variations for San Luis ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
In past government published Postal Guides, San Luis was referred to as San Luis Courthouse.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named San Luis. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for San Luis.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.
A Few Details for San Luis ...
While it's still very early in our research, we found that:
- San Luis was established in 1851.
- It was incorporated in 1885.
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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
San Luis is located in Costilla County and is the County Seat.
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 Costilla County: Alamosa, Conejos, Huerfano, Las Animas, Colfax (NM) & Taos (NM).
Below are the counties that are near San Luis. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to San Luis:
- Costilla County (The home county of San Luis)
- The following are listed by their distance from San Luis, with the one closest to San Luis listed first.
- Chama
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- San Pablo
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- San Acacio
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Garcia
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Fort Garland
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Blanca
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Garland City ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Garland City is located in Costilla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland City
- Jaroso
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Russell ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Russell is located in Costilla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell
- Alamosa County
- The following are listed by their distance from San Luis, with the one closest to San Luis listed first.
- Alamosa East
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Alamosa East is located in Alamosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamosa East
- Henry
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Henry is located in Alamosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
- Conejos County
- The following are listed by their distance from San Luis, with the one closest to San Luis listed first.
- Sanford
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Manassa
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- La Jara
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Bountiful
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Bountiful is located in Conejos County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bountiful
- Romeo
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Huerfano County
- The following are listed by their distance from San Luis, with the one closest to San Luis listed first.
- Cuchara
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Muleshoe
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Muleshoe is located in Huerfano County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muleshoe
- Uptop ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Uptop is located in Huerfano County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uptop
- Las Animas County
- Monument Park
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Monument Park is located in Las Animas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monument Park
- Taos County (NM)
- The following are listed by their distance from San Luis, with the one closest to San Luis listed first.
- Ventero
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Ventero is located in Taos County (NM)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ventero
- Costilla
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Amalia
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Amalia is located in Taos County (NM)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amalia
- Buena Vista
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to San Luis, see our County-by-County Page for San Luis.
Cemeteries Near San Luis ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of San Luis.
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 San Luis - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for San Luis covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from San Luis, with the one closest to San Luis listed first.
- San Pedro Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Chama Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Old Town Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Old Town Cemetery is located 4 miles [6.4 km]<2> to the west of San Luis.
- Garcia Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Brennaman Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Ft. Garland Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Jaroso Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jaroso Cemetery
- The Jaroso Cemetery has also been known as:
- Mountain View Cemetery
- Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Myer Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Mac Mullan Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Blanca Trinchera Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanca Trinchera Cemetery
- The Blanca Trinchera Cemetery has also been known as:
- New Ft. Garland Cemetery
- Los Sauces Church Yard Cemetery
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Continue List (23 more) ...
- Gate to Heaven Cemetery
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gate to Heaven Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Gate to Heaven Cemetery is located 8 miles [12.9 km]<2> to the east of Sanford.
- The Gate to Heaven Cemetery has also been known as:
- Los Lasauses Catholic Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #57390 <3>
- Lasauses Cemetery
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Los Lasauses Pentecostal Cemetery
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Lasauses Pentecostal Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Los Lasauses Pentecostal Cemetery is located 8 miles [12.9 km]<2> to the east of Sanford.
- The Los Lasauses Pentecostal Cemetery has also been known as:
- Assembly of God Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2335304 <3>
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.<4>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, San Luis had a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, San Luis had a population of 692 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from San Luis, with the one closest to San Luis listed first.
- Fort Garland
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Costilla
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Blanca
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Garland City ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Garland City is located in Costilla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland City
- Lasauses
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Lasauses is located in Conejos County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lasauses
- Stonewall
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Stonewall is located in Las Animas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonewall
- Russell ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Russell is located in Costilla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell
- Sanford
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Los Cerritos
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Los Cerritos is located in Conejos County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Cerritos
- Manassa
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Muleshoe
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Muleshoe is located in Huerfano County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muleshoe
- La Jara
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around San Luis. See our List of 1890's Communities around San Luis.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of San Luis ...
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 17 newspapers that have been published in the area around San Luis.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of San Luis. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of San Luis and those printed in the larger area surrounding San Luis.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2> of San Luis.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 San Luis:
- Websites specific to Colorado
- Pages specific to Costilla County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Alamosa County
- Conejos County
- Huerfano County
- Las Animas County
- Taos 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> | 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- San Luis) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 San Luis, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |