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Introduction ...

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

We've added Swallows Nest to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Swallows Nest, 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 Swallows Nest (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 Swallows Nest. 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 Swallows Nest ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

While the name of this community is Swallows Nest, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<2>. So Swallows Nest may originally have been Swallow's Nest.

Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Swallows Nest might be written as Swallow Nest.

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.

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 hospitals 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Swallows Nest is historic, it would have been located within present day Montezuma 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 Montezuma County: Apache (AZ), Dolores, La Plata, San Juan, San Juan (NM) & San Juan (UT).

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

  • Montezuma County     (The home county of Swallows Nest)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swallows Nest, with the one closest to Swallows Nest listed first.
    • Cortez
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cortez have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cortez
      • Cortez is located in Montezuma County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,734 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cortez <4>
    • Towaoc
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Towaoc have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Towaoc
      • Towaoc is located in Montezuma County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Towaoc <4>
    • Mancos
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mancos have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mancos
      • Mancos is located in Montezuma County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,398 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mancos <4>
    • Dolores
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Arriola
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arriola
      • Arriola is located in Montezuma County
    • Lewis
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lewis have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis
      • Lewis is located in Montezuma County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lewis <4>
    • McPhee ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for McPhee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McPhee
      • McPhee is located in Montezuma County
    • Yellow Jacket
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • La Plata County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swallows Nest, with the one closest to Swallows Nest listed first.
    • Marvel
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marvel have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marvel
      • Marvel is located in La Plata County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marvel <4>
    • Fort Lewis ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fort Lewis. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Lewis
      • Fort Lewis is located in La Plata County
    • Hesperus
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
  • San Juan County (NM)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swallows Nest, with the one closest to Swallows Nest listed first.
    • La Plata
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Shiprock
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Fruitland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Kirtland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kirtland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirtland
      • Kirtland is located in San Juan County (NM)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kirtland <4>
    • Nenahnezad
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nenahnezad have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nenahnezad
      • Nenahnezad is located in San Juan County (NM)

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

Newspapers Published in Swallows Nest ...

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 15 newspapers that have been published in the area around Swallows Nest.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Swallows Nest, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Swallows Nest.

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 Swallows Nest:

Cemeteries Near Swallows Nest ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Swallows Nest.

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

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

  • Cortez Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Webber Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Ute Mtn. Tribal Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Mancos Pioneer Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Cedar Grove Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Majors Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Kline Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kline Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kline Cemetery
  • Memorial Garden
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Marvel Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Hay Gulch Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hay Gulch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hay Gulch Cemetery
  • Thompson Park Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Thompson Park Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Thompson Park Cemetery
  • Sheek Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Sheek Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sheek Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #57548 <7>
  • Continue List   (16 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.

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

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

  • Cortez
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cortez have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cortez
    • Cortez is located in Montezuma County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,734 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cortez <4>
  • La Plata
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Dolores
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
  • Fort Lewis ‑ Historic
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fort Lewis. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Lewis
    • Fort Lewis is located in La Plata County
  • Fruitland
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)

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

The official website for Montezuma County: www.co.montezuma.co.us/

The official website for State of Colorado: https://www.colorado.gov/

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 Swallows Nest, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<3>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.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Swallows Nest) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Swallows Nest. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1572, Longitude: -108.4679       In this case, the coordinates for Swallows Nest have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>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.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024