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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

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

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

Although our information shows that the community of Swan 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 Swan. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Swan:

  • Chaffee County     (The home county of Swan)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swan, with the one closest to Swan listed first.
    • Turret ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Turret is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turret
    • Nathrop
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Browns Canon
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Browns Canon is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Canon
    • Belleview
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Belleview is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview
    • Johnson Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Salida
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Buena Vista
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Poncha Springs
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Cleora
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Cleora is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleora
    • Maysville ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Maysville is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
    • Americus
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Americus is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Americus
    • Iron City ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • 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 Swan, with the one closest to Swan listed first.
    • Wellsville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Wellsville is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsville
    • Calcite ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Calcite is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calcite
    • Howard
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Vallie
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Vallie is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vallie
    • Coaldale
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Cotopaxi
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Gunnison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swan, with the one closest to Swan listed first.
    • Whitepine
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Whitepine is located in Gunnison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitepine
      • Whitepine has also been known as:
      • White Pine
    • Tincup
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Tincup is located in Gunnison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tincup
    • Abbeyville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Abbeyville is located in Gunnison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbeyville
      • Former name for Abbeyville:
      • Hillerton
    • Pitkin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Bowerman ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Bowerman is located in Gunnison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowerman
      • Bowerman has also been known as:
      • Camp Bowerman
      • Nugget City
  • Lake County
    • Low Pass ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Low Pass is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Low Pass
  • Park County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swan, with the one closest to Swan listed first.
    • Hartsel
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Guffey
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Pike - San Isabel Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Saguache County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swan, with the one closest to Swan listed first.
    • Bonanza
      (27 miles [43.5 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
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Kerper City is located in Saguache County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kerper City
    • Sargents
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Villa Grove
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Swan ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Swan.

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

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

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

  • Centerville Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Poncha Springs Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Cleora Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Tomichi Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • White Pine Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Howard Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Buffalo Springs Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Boothill Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • Tincup Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Pitkin Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Hartsel Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Granite Cemetery
      (28 miles [45.1 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.

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

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

  • Nathrop
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Browns Canon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Browns Canon is located in Chaffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Canon
  • Belleview
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Belleview is located in Chaffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview
  • Salida
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Poncha Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Buena Vista
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Maysville ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Maysville is located in Chaffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
  • Cleora
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Cleora is located in Chaffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleora
  • Alpine ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Alpine is located in Chaffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
  • Wellsville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Wellsville is located in Fremont County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsville
  • Garfield ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Garfield is located in Chaffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
  • Mears Junction
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Mears Junction is located in Chaffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mears Junction
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Americus
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Americus is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Americus
    • Saint Elmo ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Saint Elmo is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Elmo
    • Monarch
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Swan ...

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 56 newspapers that have been published in the area around Swan.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Swan, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Swan.

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 Swan:

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 Swan, 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 '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- Swan) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.