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 Willowbrook (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 Willowbrook. 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 Willowbrook ...
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.
Another variation: Willow Brook.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Willowbrook. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Willowbrook.
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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.
Willowbrook is located in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County: Adams, Boulder, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Gilpin, Park & Teller.
Below are the counties that are near Willowbrook. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Willowbrook:
- Jefferson County (The home county of Willowbrook)
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- Morrison
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Twin Forks
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Twin Forks is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Forks
- Ken Caryl
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Indian Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Indians Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Columbine
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Columbine is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbine
- Idledale
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Sky Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Sky Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sky Village
- Green Mountain Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Genesee
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Kittredge
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Archer
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Archer is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archer
- Evergreen
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Adams County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- Berkley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Berkley is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkley
- Hidden Lake
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hidden Lake is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Lake
- North Washington
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- North Washington is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Washington
- Twin Lakes
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Twin Lakes is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
- Westminster
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Sherrelwood
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Sherrelwood is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherrelwood
- Western Hills
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Western Hills is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Western Hills
- Adams City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Adams City is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams City
- Federal Heights
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Holiday Hills Village
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Welby
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Welby is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welby
- Derby
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Derby is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
- Hillcrest Village
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Hillcrest Village is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest Village
- Arapahoe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- Bow Mar
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Bow Mar is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bow Mar
- Population from the 2020 Census: 947 people
- Columbine Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Columbine Valley is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbine Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,508 people
- Fort Logan ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Fort Logan is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Logan
- Littleton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Sheridan
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Englewood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Cherry Hills Village
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Cherry Knolls
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Cherry Knolls is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Knolls
- Southglenn
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Southglenn is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southglenn
- Greenwood Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Castlewood
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Castlewood is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castlewood
- Glendale
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Centennial
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Boulder County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- Superior
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Eldorado Springs
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Crescent Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Crescent Village is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Village
- Wondervu
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Wondervu is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wondervu
- Louisville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Lafayette
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Pinecliffe
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Boulder
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Magnolia
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Magnolia is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
- Valmont
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Valmont is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valmont
- Tungsten ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Tungsten is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tungsten
- Erie
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Nederland
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Nederland is located in Boulder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nederland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,557 people
- Former names for Nederland:
- Browns Crossing
- Dayton
- Middle Boulder
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nederland <1>
- Broomfield County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- Broomfield Heights
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Broomfield Heights is located in Broomfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broomfield Heights
- Broomfield
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Clear Creek County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- Brookvale
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Brookvale is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookvale
- Idaho Springs
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Downieville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Dumont
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Downieville - Lawson - Dumont
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Lawson
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Lawson is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawson
- Silver Creek ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Silver Creek is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
- Georgetown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Silverdale ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Silverdale is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silverdale
- Alice
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Alice is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alice
- Saint Mary's
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Saint Mary's is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Mary's
- Empire
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Silver Plume
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Denver County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- West Denver
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- West Denver is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Denver
- Denver
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- 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>
- Cherry Creek
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Cherry Creek is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Creek
- Sandown
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Sandown is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandown
- Montbello
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Douglas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- Roxborough Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Roxborough Park is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxborough Park
- Highlands Ranch
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Louviers
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Gateway
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Gateway is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gateway
- Acres Green
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Carriage Club
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Carriage Club is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carriage Club
- Heritage Hills
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Heritage Hills is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Hills
- Lone Tree
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Sedalia
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Meridian
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Meridian is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
- Twin Cedars ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Twin Cedars is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Cedars
- Castle Pines North
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Castle Pines North is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Pines North
- Estimated population in 2011: 10,602 people
- Castle Pines
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Elbert County
- Ponderosa Park
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Ponderosa Park is located in Elbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponderosa Park
- Gilpin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- Cottonwood
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Cottonwood is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
- Smith Hill ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Smith Hill is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Hill
- Black Hawk
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Central City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Russell Gulch
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Russell Gulch is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell Gulch
- Nevadaville ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Nevadaville is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nevadaville
- Nevadaville has also been known as:
- Bald Mountain
- Nevada City
- Apex ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Apex is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apex
- Rollinsville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- American City ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- American City is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for American City
- Kingston ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Kingston is located in Gilpin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
- Park County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- Bailey
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Shawnee
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Weller
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Weller is located in Park County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weller
- Grant
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Willowbrook, see our County-by-County Page for Willowbrook.
Cemeteries Near Willowbrook ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Willowbrook.
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 Willowbrook - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Willowbrook covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- Morrison Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Ault Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Evergreen Memorial Park
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Ft. Logan National Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Pleasant Park Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Lehow Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Littleton Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Rockland Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Golden Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Golden Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Golden.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #152829 <2>
- Conifer Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Beaver Ranch Pioneer Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (76 more) ...
- William F Cody Grave
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Golden Hill Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- White Ash Mine Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
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 Willowbrook in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Willowbrook.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- Morrison
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Archer
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Archer is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archer
- Littleton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Fort Logan ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Fort Logan is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Logan
- Evergreen
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Acequia
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Acequia is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acequia
- Golden
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- West Denver
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- West Denver is located in Denver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Denver
- Dome Rock
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Dome Rock is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dome Rock
- South Platte
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- South Platte is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Platte
- Denver
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- 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>
- Brookvale
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Brookvale is located in Clear Creek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookvale
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Arvada
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Pine
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Sullivan
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Sullivan is located in Arapahoe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sullivan
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Willowbrook. See our List of 1890's Communities around Willowbrook.
Newspapers Published in Willowbrook ...
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 392 newspapers that have been published in the area around Willowbrook.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Willowbrook, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Willowbrook.
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 websites either 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 Willowbrook:
- Websites specific to Colorado
- Pages specific to Jefferson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Adams County
- Arapahoe County
- Boulder County
- Broomfield County
- Clear Creek County
- Denver County
- Douglas County
- Elbert County
- Gilpin County
- Park 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> | 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 Willowbrook, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Willowbrook) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |