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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Shirley. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Shirley to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Shirley, please Contact Us.

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 Shirley (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 Shirley. 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 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Shirley is historic, it would have been located within present day Chaffee 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 Chaffee County: Fremont, Gunnison, Lake, Park, Pitkin & Saguache.

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

  • Chaffee County     (The home county of Shirley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shirley, with the one closest to Shirley listed first.
    • Mears Junction
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Mears Junction is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mears Junction
    • Poncha Springs
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Maysville ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Maysville is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
    • Cleora
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Cleora is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleora
    • Salida
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Belleview
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Belleview is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview
    • Monarch
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Browns Canon
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Browns Canon is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Canon
    • Turret ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Turret is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turret
    • Hancock ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Hancock is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
    • Nathrop
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Iron City ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Iron City is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron City
  • Fremont County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shirley, with the one closest to Shirley listed first.
    • Calcite ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Calcite is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calcite
    • Wellsville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Wellsville is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsville
    • Howard
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Vallie
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Vallie is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vallie
    • Coaldale
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Cotopaxi
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Hillside
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Gunnison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shirley, with the one closest to Shirley listed first.
    • Whitepine
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Whitepine is located in Gunnison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitepine
      • Whitepine has also been known as:
      • White Pine
    • Bowerman ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Bowerman is located in Gunnison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowerman
      • Bowerman has also been known as:
      • Camp Bowerman
      • Nugget City
    • Pitkin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Ohio City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Tincup
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Tincup is located in Gunnison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tincup
  • Saguache County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shirley, with the one closest to Shirley listed first.
    • Bonanza
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Bonanza is located in Saguache County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonanza
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21 people
    • Kerper City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Kerper City is located in Saguache County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kerper City
    • Spook City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Spook City is located in Saguache County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spook City
    • Villa Grove
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Sargents
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Saguache
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Shirley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shirley.

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 Shirley - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Shirley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Poncha Springs Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Cleora Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Whites Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Villa Grove Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Tomichi Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • White Pine Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Centerville Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Howard Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Jacks Creek Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Campo Santo Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Hillside Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Pitkin Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Mirage Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)

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.

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

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

  • Mears Junction
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Mears Junction is located in Chaffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mears Junction
  • Alder ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Alder is located in Saguache County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alder
  • Poncha Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Maysville ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Maysville is located in Chaffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
  • Bonanza
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Bonanza is located in Saguache County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonanza
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 21 people
  • Chester
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Chester is located in Saguache County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
  • Cleora
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Cleora is located in Chaffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleora
  • Salida
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Belleview
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Belleview is located in Chaffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview
  • Wellsville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Wellsville is located in Fremont County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsville
  • Garfield ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Garfield is located in Chaffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
  • Monarch
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Browns Canon
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Browns Canon is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Canon
    • Villa Grove
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Howard
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in Shirley ...

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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around Shirley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Shirley, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Shirley.

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 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 Shirley:

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Shirley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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 from Point A (ie- Shirley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.