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 Thornton (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 Thornton. 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 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.
Thornton is primarily located in Adams County. A portion of Thornton extends into Weld 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 Adams County: Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver, Jefferson, Morgan, Washington & Weld.
Below are the counties that are near Thornton. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Thornton:
- Adams County (The home county of Thornton)
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Eastlake
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Northglenn
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Henderson
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Darlow ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Darlow is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darlow
- Little Texas ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Little Texas is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Texas
- Holiday Hills Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Todd Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Todd Creek is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Todd Creek
- Derby
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Derby is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
- Dupont
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Welby
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Welby is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welby
- Federal Heights
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Adams City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Adams City is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams City
- Sherrelwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sherrelwood is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherrelwood
- Arapahoe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Colfax Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Colfax Village is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colfax Village
- Glendale
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Altura
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Altura is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altura
- Aurora
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Havana Village
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Havana Village is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana Village
- Old Towne
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Old Towne is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Towne
- Hallcrafts Village East
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Sableridge
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Sableridge is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sableridge
- Settlers Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Settlers Village is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Settlers Village
- Somerset Village
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Somerset Village is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerset Village
- Englewood
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Cherry Hills Village
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Fort Logan ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Fort Logan is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Logan
- Boulder County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Erie
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Lafayette
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Louisville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Canfield
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Canfield is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canfield
- Superior
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Pleasant View Ridge
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Pleasant View Ridge is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View Ridge
- Gunbarrel
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Gunbarrel is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunbarrel
- Niwot
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Valmont
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Valmont is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valmont
- Eldorado Springs
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Boulder
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Longmont
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Crescent Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Crescent Village is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Village
- Broomfield County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Broomfield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Broomfield Heights
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Broomfield Heights is located in Broomfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broomfield Heights
- Denver County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Sandown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Sandown is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandown
- Montbello
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Denver
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Denver is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denver
- Population from the 2020 Census: 735,538 people
- Former names for Denver:
- Auraina
- Denver City
- Montana City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Denver <1>
- West Denver
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- West Denver is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Denver
- Cherry Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Cherry Creek is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Creek
- Douglas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Acres Green
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Cottonwood
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Cottonwood is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
- Gateway
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Gateway is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gateway
- Highlands Ranch
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Meridian
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Meridian is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
- Carriage Club
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Carriage Club is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carriage Club
- Grand View Estates
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Grand View Estates is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand View Estates
- Heritage Hills
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Heritage Hills is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Hills
- Lone Tree
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Stonegate
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Stonegate is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonegate
- Parker
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Pine Valley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Pine Valley is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Valley
- Castle Pines North
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Castle Pines North is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Pines North
- Estimated population in 2011: 10,602 people
- Gilpin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Cottonwood
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Cottonwood is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
- Smith Hill ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Smith Hill is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Hill
- Black Hawk
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Rollinsville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Wallace Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Wallace Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallace Village
- Arvada
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Oak Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Oak Park is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Park
- Lakeside
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mountain View
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mountain View is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
- Population from the 2020 Census: 549 people
- Wheat Ridge
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Edgewater
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Applewood Village
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Applewood Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Applewood Village
- Applewood
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Applewood is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Applewood
- Arapahoe ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Arapahoe is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arapahoe
- Lakewood
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- East Pleasant View
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- East Pleasant View is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Pleasant View
- West Pleasant View
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- West Pleasant View is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pleasant View
- Larimer County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Berthoud
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Campion
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Campion is located in Larimer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campion
- Weld County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Wattenberg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Wattenberg is located in Weld County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wattenberg
- Dacono
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Lochbuie
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Lochbuie is located in Weld County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lochbuie
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,885 people
- Frederick
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Fort Lupton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Firestone
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Aristocrat Ranchettes
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hudson
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Platteville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Highland Lake
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Highland Lake is located in Weld County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Lake
- Mead
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Keenesburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Gilcrest
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Thornton, see our County-by-County Page for Thornton.
Cemeteries Near Thornton ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Thornton.
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 Thornton - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Thornton covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Wesley Chapel Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Olinger Highland Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olinger Highland Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Olinger Highland Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<3> to the southwest of Thornton.
- The Olinger Highland Cemetery has also been known as:
- Highland Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #453365 <2>
- Highland Memorial Gardens
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- St. Clair Ross Memorial Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Evergreen Memorial Gardens
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Memorial Gardens
- The Evergreen Memorial Gardens has also been known as:
- Evergreen Cemetery
- Evergreen Memorial Gardens
- Evergreen Memorial Park
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #57265 <2>
- Broomfield County Commons Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Belleview Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Belleview Cemetery is located in Westminster.
- The Belleview Cemetery has also been known as:
- Pillar of Fire Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2143601 <2>
- Elmwood Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Black Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Pioneer Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lakeview Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Rose Hill Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Continue List (66 more) ...
- Riverside Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Lafayette Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Coal Creek Memorial Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 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.<4>
While we didn't find Thornton in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Thornton.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Cotton Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Cotton Creek is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Creek
- Broomfield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Semper
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Semper is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Semper
- Dick
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Dick is located in Weld County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dick
- Saint Vrains
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Saint Vrains is located in Weld County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Vrains
- Erie
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Lafayette
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Arvada
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Louisville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Canfield
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Canfield is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canfield
- West Denver
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- West Denver is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Denver
- Denver
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Denver is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denver
- Population from the 2020 Census: 735,538 people
- Former names for Denver:
- Auraina
- Denver City
- Montana City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Denver <1>
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Fort Lupton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Aurora
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Marshall
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Marshall is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Thornton. See our List of 1890's Communities around Thornton.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Thornton ...
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 411 newspapers that have been published in the area around Thornton.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Thornton. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Thornton and those printed in the larger area surrounding Thornton.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<3> of Thornton.
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 professional and volunteer 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 Thornton:
- Websites specific to Colorado
- Pages specific to Adams County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Arapahoe County
- Boulder County
- Broomfield County
- Denver County
- Douglas County
- Gilpin County
- Jefferson County
- Larimer County
- Weld County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Colorado
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 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Thornton) 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 Thornton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |