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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 Swissvale (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 Swissvale. 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.

Swissvale is located in Fremont 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 Fremont County: Chaffee, Custer, El Paso, Park, Pueblo, Saguache & Teller.

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

  • Fremont County     (The home county of Swissvale)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swissvale, with the one closest to Swissvale listed first.
    • Wellsville
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Wellsville is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsville
    • Calcite ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Calcite is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calcite
    • Howard
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Vallie
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Vallie is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vallie
    • Coaldale
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Cotopaxi
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Echo
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Echo is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
    • Hillside
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Sunset City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Sunset City is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset City
    • Buckskin Joe
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Buckskin Joe is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckskin Joe
  • Chaffee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swissvale, with the one closest to Swissvale listed first.
    • Cleora
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Cleora is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleora
    • Salida
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Poncha Springs
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Belleview
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Belleview is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview
    • Turret ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Turret is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turret
    • Mears Junction
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Mears Junction is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mears Junction
    • Browns Canon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Browns Canon is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Canon
    • Maysville ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Maysville is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
    • Nathrop
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Monarch
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Johnson Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Buena Vista
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Hancock ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Hancock is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
  • Gunnison County
    • Whitepine
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Whitepine is located in Gunnison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitepine
      • Whitepine has also been known as:
      • White Pine
  • Park County
  • Saguache County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swissvale, with the one closest to Swissvale listed first.
    • Villa Grove
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Bonanza
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Bonanza is located in Saguache County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonanza
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21 people
    • Kerper City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Kerper City is located in Saguache County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kerper City
    • Spook City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Spook City is located in Saguache County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spook City
    • Sargents
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Saguache
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Swissvale ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Swissvale.

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

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

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

  • Cleora Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Howard Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Poncha Springs Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Villa Grove Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Centerville Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Whites Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Cotton Creek Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
  • Mirage Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
  • Pines Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pines Cemetery
    • The Pines Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Cusacks Cemetery Of The Pines
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • The Pines Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Tomichi Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 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.<3>

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

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

  • Wellsville
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Wellsville is located in Fremont County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsville
  • Howard
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Cleora
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Cleora is located in Chaffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleora
  • Salida
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Vallie
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Vallie is located in Fremont County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vallie
  • Poncha Springs
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Alder ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Alder is located in Saguache County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alder
  • Belleview
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Belleview is located in Chaffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview
  • Mears Junction
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Mears Junction is located in Chaffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mears Junction
  • Coaldale
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Browns Canon
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Browns Canon is located in Chaffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Canon
  • Cotopaxi
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Villa Grove
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Maysville ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Maysville is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
    • Texas Creek
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Texas Creek is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Texas Creek

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

Newspapers Published in Swissvale ...

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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around Swissvale.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Swissvale, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Swissvale.

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 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 Swissvale:

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 Swissvale, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Swissvale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.