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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 Villa Grove (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 Villa Grove. 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 Villa Grove ...

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 occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Villa Grove: Villa Grv.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Villa Grove. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Villa Grove.

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 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.

Villa Grove is located in Saguache 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 Saguache County: Alamosa, Chaffee, Custer, Fremont, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Huerfano, Mineral & Rio Grande.

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

  • Saguache County     (The home county of Villa Grove)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Villa Grove, with the one closest to Villa Grove listed first.
    • Bonanza
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Bonanza is located in Saguache County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonanza
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21 people
    • Kerper City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Kerper City is located in Saguache County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kerper City
    • Spook City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Spook City is located in Saguache County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spook City
    • Saguache
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Moffat
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Crestone
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Sargents
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Chaffee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Villa Grove, with the one closest to Villa Grove listed first.
    • Mears Junction
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Mears Junction is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mears Junction
    • Cleora
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Cleora is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleora
    • Poncha Springs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Salida
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Belleview
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Belleview is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview
    • Maysville ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Maysville is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
    • Browns Canon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Browns Canon is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Canon
    • Turret ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Turret is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turret
    • Monarch
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Custer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Villa Grove, with the one closest to Villa Grove listed first.
    • Ula ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Ula is located in Custer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ula
    • Westcliffe
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Silver Cliff
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Fremont County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Villa Grove, with the one closest to Villa Grove listed first.
    • Calcite ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Calcite is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calcite
    • Coaldale
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Vallie
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Vallie is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vallie
    • Howard
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Wellsville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Wellsville is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsville
    • Cotopaxi
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hillside
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Echo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Echo is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
    • Sunset City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Sunset City is located in Fremont County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset City

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

Cemeteries Near Villa Grove ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Villa Grove.

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 Villa Grove - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Villa Grove Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Whites Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Mirage Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Cotton Creek Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Howard Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Campo Santo Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Cleora Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Poncha Springs Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Pines Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pines Cemetery
    • The Pines Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Cusacks Cemetery Of The Pines
  • Continue List   (8 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 Villa Grove had a population of 294 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Alder ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Alder is located in Saguache County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alder
  • Bonanza
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Bonanza is located in Saguache County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonanza
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 21 people
  • Coaldale
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Vallie
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Vallie is located in Fremont County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vallie
  • Howard
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Saguache
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Cotopaxi
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Mears Junction
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Mears Junction is located in Chaffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mears Junction
  • Wellsville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Wellsville is located in Fremont County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsville
  • Moffat
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Cleora
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Cleora is located in Chaffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleora
  • Poncha Springs
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Salida
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Chester
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Chester is located in Saguache County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
    • Belleview
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Belleview is located in Chaffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview

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

Newspapers Published in Villa Grove ...

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 44 newspapers that have been published in the area around Villa Grove.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Villa Grove, 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 Villa Grove.

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 Villa Grove:

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