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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 Silver Cliff (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 Silver Cliff. 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 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.

Silver Cliff is located in Custer 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 Custer County: Fremont, Huerfano, Pueblo & Saguache.

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

  • Custer County     (The home county of Silver Cliff)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Silver Cliff, with the one closest to Silver Cliff listed first.
    • Westcliffe
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Querida ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Querida is located in Custer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Querida
      • Querida has also been known as:
      • Bassick
      • Querida Junction
    • Rosita
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Rosita is located in Custer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosita
    • Ula ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Ula is located in Custer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ula
    • Greenwood
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Greenwood is located in Custer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
    • Wetmore
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Fremont County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Silver Cliff, with the one closest to Silver Cliff listed first.
    • Hillside
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Sunset City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Sunset City is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset City
    • Coal Creek
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Rockvale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Williamsburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Williamsburg is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 682 people
    • Cotopaxi
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Echo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Echo is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
    • Brookside
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Brookside is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
    • Lincoln Park
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Lincoln Park is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
    • Prospect Heights
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Prospect Heights is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prospect Heights
    • Buckskin Joe
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Buckskin Joe is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckskin Joe
    • Canon City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Florence
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Huerfano County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Silver Cliff, with the one closest to Silver Cliff listed first.
    • Bradford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Bradford is located in Huerfano County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradford
    • Gardner
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Red Wing
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Pueblo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Silver Cliff, with the one closest to Silver Cliff listed first.
    • Beulah
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Beulah Valley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Beulah Valley is located in Pueblo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beulah Valley
    • Siloam
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Siloam is located in Pueblo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siloam
    • Rye
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Rye is located in Pueblo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rye
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 253 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rye <1>
  • Saguache County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Silver Cliff, with the one closest to Silver Cliff listed first.
    • Crestone
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Duncan ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Duncan is located in Saguache County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncan
    • Liberty ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Liberty is located in Saguache County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
    • Moffat
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Villa Grove
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Silver Cliff ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Silver Cliff.

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 Silver Cliff - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Silver Cliff Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Rosita Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Hope Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Ula Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Pines Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pines Cemetery
    • The Pines Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Cusacks Cemetery Of The Pines
  • The Pines Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Teton Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Cotton Creek Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Union Highland Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • Fremont Memory Gardens Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...

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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Silver Cliff had a population of 546 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Silver Cliff had a population of 741 people.

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

  • Westcliffe
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Rosita
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Rosita is located in Custer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosita
  • Bradford
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Bradford is located in Huerfano County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradford
  • Crestone
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Fairview
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Fairview is located in Custer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
  • Greenwood
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Greenwood is located in Custer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
  • Wetmore
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Chandler ‑ Historic
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Chandler is located in Fremont County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chandler
  • Coal Creek
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Rockvale
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Texas Creek
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Texas Creek is located in Fremont County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Texas Creek
  • Williamsburg
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Williamsburg is located in Fremont County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 682 people
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Cotopaxi
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Echo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Echo is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
    • Beulah
      (23 miles [37 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 Silver Cliff. See our List of 1890's Communities around Silver Cliff.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Silver Cliff ...

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 41 newspapers that have been published in the area around Silver Cliff.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Silver Cliff. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Silver Cliff and those printed in the larger area surrounding Silver Cliff.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4> of Silver Cliff.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start 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 Silver Cliff:

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>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 Silver Cliff, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Silver Cliff) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.