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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 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and 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.

Shirley is located in El Paso 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 El Paso County: Crowley, Douglas, Elbert, Fremont, Lincoln, Pueblo & Teller.

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:

  • El Paso County     (The home county of Shirley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shirley, with the one closest to Shirley listed first.
    • Falcon
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cimarron Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Black Forest
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Colorado Springs
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Colorado Springs is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colorado Springs
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 482,131 people
      • Former names for Colorado Springs:
      • El Paso
      • Fountain Colony
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colorado Springs <1>
    • Kelker
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Kelker is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelker
    • Widefield
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Stratmoor
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Stratmoor is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratmoor
    • Eastonville ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Eastonville is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastonville
    • Peyton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Gleneagle
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Gleneagle is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gleneagle
    • Fort Carson
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Ellicott
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Ellicott is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellicott
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shirley, with the one closest to Shirley listed first.
    • Larkspur
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Perry Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Perry Park is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perry Park
  • Elbert County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shirley, with the one closest to Shirley listed first.
    • Elbert
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Fondis
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Fondis is located in Elbert County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fondis
  • Teller County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shirley, with the one closest to Shirley listed first.
    • Woodland Park
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Divide
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Goldfield
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Goldfield is located in Teller County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldfield
    • Independence ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Independence is located in Teller County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
    • Victor
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Cripple Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)

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.

  • Memorial Gardens Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Pikes Peak National Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Eastonville Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastonville Cemetery
    • The Eastonville Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Shadeland Cemetery
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Cemetery
    • The Evergreen Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Mt. Washington Cemetery
    • Mountain Home Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #57264 <2>
  • Shrine of Rest Mausoleum
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Sons of Israel Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Pioneer Park Memorial
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer Park Memorial
    • The Pioneer Park Memorial has also been known as:
    • Mesa Cemetery
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Paupers' Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Benedict Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Peyton Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Capps Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (42 more) ...
    • Mt. St. Francis Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. St. Francis Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mt. St. Francis Cemetery is located 7 miles [11.3 km]<3> to the north of Colorado Springs.
      • The Mt. St. Francis Cemetery has also been known as:
      • St. Francis Cemetery
    • Crystal Valley Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • United States Air Force Academy Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)

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>

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.

  • Elsmere
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Elsmere is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elsmere
  • Falcon
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Pikeview
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Pikeview is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pikeview
  • Colorado Springs
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Colorado Springs is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colorado Springs
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 482,131 people
    • Former names for Colorado Springs:
    • El Paso
    • Fountain Colony
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colorado Springs <1>
  • Kelker
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Kelker is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelker
  • Ivywild
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Ivywild is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivywild
  • Widefield
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Peyton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Eastonville ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Eastonville is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastonville
  • Manitou Springs
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Fountain
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Monument
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Green Mountain Falls
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Palmer Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Buttes
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Buttes is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buttes

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 146 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]<3>. 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 first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Shirley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Shirley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.