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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 Windy Hills (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 Windy Hills. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Windy Hills is located in Douglas 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 Douglas County: Arapahoe, El Paso, Elbert, Jefferson, Park & Teller.

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

  • Douglas County     (The home county of Windy Hills)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Windy Hills, with the one closest to Windy Hills listed first.
    • Pine Valley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Pine Valley is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Valley
    • The Pinery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • The Pinery is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Pinery
    • Parker
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Cherry Creek Highlands
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Stonegate
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Stonegate is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonegate
    • Franktown
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Cottonwood
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Cottonwood is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
    • Grand View Estates
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Grand View Estates is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand View Estates
    • Founders Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Founders Village is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Founders Village
    • Meridian
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Meridian is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
    • Heritage Hills
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Heritage Hills is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Hills
    • Lone Tree
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Carriage Club
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Carriage Club is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carriage Club
  • Adams County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Windy Hills, with the one closest to Windy Hills listed first.
    • Friendly Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Friendly Village is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendly Village
    • Watkins
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Hillcrest Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Hillcrest Village is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest Village
    • Bennett
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Strasburg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Adams City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Adams City is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams City
    • Derby
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Derby is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
    • Dupont
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • North Washington
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • North Washington is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Washington
    • Commerce City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Berkley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Berkley is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkley
    • Twin Lakes
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Twin Lakes is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
    • Welby
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Welby is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welby
  • Arapahoe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Windy Hills, with the one closest to Windy Hills listed first.
    • Foxfield
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Foxfield is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 771 people
    • Algonquin Acres
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Algonquin Acres is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Algonquin Acres
    • Centennial
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Castlewood
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Castlewood is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castlewood
    • Greenwood Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Somerset Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Somerset Village is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerset Village
    • Cherry Knolls
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Cherry Knolls is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Knolls
    • Sableridge
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Sableridge is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sableridge
    • Southglenn
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Southglenn is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southglenn
    • Hallcrafts Village East
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Settlers Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Settlers Village is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Settlers Village
    • Havana Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Havana Village is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana Village
    • Old Towne
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Old Towne is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Towne
  • Denver County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Windy Hills, with the one closest to Windy Hills listed first.
    • Cherry Creek
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Cherry Creek is located in Denver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Creek
    • Montbello
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Sandown
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Sandown is located in Denver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandown
    • Denver
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • 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
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • West Denver is located in Denver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Denver
  • El Paso County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Windy Hills, with the one closest to Windy Hills listed first.
    • Woodmoor
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Woodmoor is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodmoor
    • Monument
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Palmer Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Eastonville ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Eastonville is located in El Paso County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastonville
  • Elbert County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Windy Hills, with the one closest to Windy Hills listed first.
    • Ponderosa Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Ponderosa Park is located in Elbert County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponderosa Park
    • Elizabeth
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Kiowa
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Elbert
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Fondis
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Fondis is located in Elbert County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fondis
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Windy Hills, with the one closest to Windy Hills listed first.
    • Archer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Archer is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archer
    • Columbine
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Columbine is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbine
    • Ken Caryl
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Lakewood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Edgewater
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Green Mountain Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Dome Rock
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Dome Rock is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dome Rock
    • Lakeside
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Mountain View
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Mountain View is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 549 people
    • Wheat Ridge
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Foxton ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Foxton is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxton
    • Morrison
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Twin Forks
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Twin Forks is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Forks

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

Cemeteries Near Windy Hills ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Windy Hills.

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 Windy Hills - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Windy Hills, with the one closest to Windy Hills 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 Windy Hills in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Windy Hills.

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

  • Hilltop
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Hilltop is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
  • Parker
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Franktown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Elizabeth
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Castle Rock
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Sedalia
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Kiowa
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Sullivan
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Sullivan is located in Arapahoe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sullivan
  • Aurora
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Aurora is located in Arapahoe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 387,377 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Aurora <1>
  • Acequia
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Acequia is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acequia
  • Littleton
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Larkspur
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Elbert
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Fort Logan ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Fort Logan is located in Arapahoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Logan
    • Archer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Archer is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archer

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

Newspapers Published in Windy Hills ...

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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around Windy Hills.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Windy Hills, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Windy Hills.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Windy Hills:

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 Windy Hills, 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 from Point A (ie- Windy Hills) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.