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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 Watkins (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 Watkins. 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.

Watkins is located in Adams 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 Watkins. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Watkins:

  • Adams County     (The home county of Watkins)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watkins, with the one closest to Watkins listed first.
    • Bennett
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Friendly Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Friendly Village is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendly Village
    • Hillcrest Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Hillcrest Village is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest Village
    • Commerce City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Strasburg
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Derby
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Derby is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
    • Dupont
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Adams City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Adams City is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams City
    • Henderson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Welby
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Brighton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • North Washington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • North Washington is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Washington
    • Thornton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Arapahoe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watkins, with the one closest to Watkins listed first.
    • Altura
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Altura is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altura
    • Somerset Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Somerset Village is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerset Village
    • Aurora
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Settlers Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Settlers Village is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Settlers Village
    • Sableridge
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Hallcrafts Village East
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Havana Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Havana Village is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana Village
    • Old Towne
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Old Towne is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Towne
    • Foxfield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Foxfield is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 771 people
    • Colfax Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Colfax Village is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colfax Village
    • Algonquin Acres
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Glendale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Centennial
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Boulder County
    • Erie
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Erie is located in Boulder County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 30,318 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Erie <1>
  • Broomfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watkins, with the one closest to Watkins listed first.
    • Broomfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Broomfield Heights
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Broomfield Heights is located in Broomfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broomfield Heights
  • Denver County
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watkins, with the one closest to Watkins listed first.
    • Cottonwood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Cottonwood is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
    • Pine Valley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Pine Valley is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Valley
    • Parker
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Grand View Estates
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Grand View Estates is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand View Estates
    • Stonegate
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Stonegate is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonegate
    • Cherry Creek Highlands
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Meridian
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Meridian is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
    • Acres Green
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Heritage Hills
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Heritage Hills is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Hills
    • Lone Tree
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • The Pinery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Carriage Club
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Carriage Club is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carriage Club
    • Gateway
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Gateway is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gateway
  • Elbert County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watkins, with the one closest to Watkins listed first.
    • Ponderosa Park
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Ponderosa Park is located in Elbert County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponderosa Park
    • Elizabeth
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Kiowa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watkins, with the one closest to Watkins listed first.
    • Edgewater
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Lakeside
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Mountain View
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Mountain View is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 549 people
    • Lakewood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Wheat Ridge
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Arvada
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Columbine
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Columbine is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbine
    • Wallace Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Wallace Village is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallace Village
    • Applewood Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Applewood Village is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Applewood Village
    • Green Mountain Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Oak Park
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Archer
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Archer is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archer
    • Applewood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Applewood is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Applewood
  • Weld County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watkins, with the one closest to Watkins listed first.
    • Lochbuie
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Lochbuie is located in Weld County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lochbuie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,885 people
    • Hudson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Wattenberg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Johnson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Johnson is located in Weld County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson
    • Keenesburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Fort Lupton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Aristocrat Ranchettes
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Dacono
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Watkins ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Watkins.

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

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

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

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 Watkins in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Watkins.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Watkins ...

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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Watkins.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Watkins, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Watkins.

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 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 Watkins:

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 Watkins, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Watkins) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.