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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 Alto (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 Alto. 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.

Alto is located in Lincoln County.

To see how the shape of New Mexico's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Lincoln County: Chaves, DeBaca, Guadalupe, Otero, Sierra, Socorro & Torrance.

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

  • Lincoln County     (The home county of Alto)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alto, with the one closest to Alto listed first.
    • Sun Valley
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley
      • Sun Valley is located in Lincoln County
    • Ruidoso
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Alpine Cellars Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpine Cellars Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine Cellars Village
      • Alpine Cellars Village is located in Lincoln County
    • Sierra Vista
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sierra Vista
      • Sierra Vista is located in Lincoln County
    • Bonito
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonito
      • Bonito is located in Lincoln County
    • Hollywood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollywood
      • Hollywood is located in Lincoln County
    • Ruidoso Downs
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ruidoso Downs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruidoso Downs
      • Ruidoso Downs is located in Lincoln County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,631 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ruidoso Downs <2>
    • Capitan
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Capitan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capitan
      • Capitan is located in Lincoln County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,457 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Capitan <2>
    • Fort Stanton ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Stanton
      • Fort Stanton is located in Lincoln County
    • Nogal
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Glencoe
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Lincoln
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
      • Lincoln is located in Lincoln County
    • Carrizozo
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Otero County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alto, with the one closest to Alto listed first.
    • Carrizo
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carrizo
      • Carrizo is located in Otero County
    • Mescalero
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Bent
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Tularosa
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Alto ...

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 43 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alto.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Alto, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Alto.

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 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 Alto:

Cemeteries Near Alto ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alto.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Forest Lawn Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • West - Box Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • The West - Box Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Pioneer Little Creek Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West - Box Cemetery
  • Stetson Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Ruidoso-Hondo Valley Memorial Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • San Ysidro Mission Church Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Nogal Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nogal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nogal Cemetery
  • Coe Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Coe Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Coe Cemetery
  • Glencoe Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Glencoe Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Glencoe Cemetery
  • Whitetail Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Whitetail Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Whitetail Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #38512 <4>
  • Silva Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Silva Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Silva Cemetery
  • Griego Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Griego Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Griego Cemetery
  • San Patricio Catholic Church Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (21 more) ...
    • Lincoln Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lincoln Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lincoln Cemetery
    • Blazer Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Blazers Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blazers Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blazers Cemetery

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.<5>

While we didn't find Alto in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Alto.

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

  • Ruidoso
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Bonito
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonito
    • Bonito is located in Lincoln County
  • Fort Stanton ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Stanton
    • Fort Stanton is located in Lincoln County
  • Nogal
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Lincoln
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
    • Lincoln is located in Lincoln County
  • White Oaks ‑ Historic
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oaks
    • White Oaks is located in Lincoln County
  • Picacho
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alto. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of New Mexico: www.newmexico.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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- Alto) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alto. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.4019, Longitude: -105.6593    
<4>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.
<5>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 Alto, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024