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Home >> State of New Mexico >> Rio Arriba County >> Biggs >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Biggs. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Biggs to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Biggs, please Contact Us.


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 Biggs (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 Biggs. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Biggs is historic, it would have been located within present day Rio Arriba County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Rio Arriba County: Archuleta (CO), Conejos (CO), Los Alamos, Mora, San Juan, Sandoval, Santa Fe & Taos.

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

  • Rio Arriba County     (The home county of Biggs)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Biggs, with the one closest to Biggs listed first.
    • Monero
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Monero is located in Rio Arriba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monero
    • Lumberton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Lumberton is located in Rio Arriba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumberton
    • Chama
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Chama is located in Rio Arriba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chama
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 976 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chama <2>
    • Dulce
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Lobato ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Lobato is located in Rio Arriba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lobato
    • Navajo
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Navajo is located in Rio Arriba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navajo
    • Brazos
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Brazos is located in Rio Arriba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brazos
    • Rutheron
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Rutheron is located in Rio Arriba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutheron
    • Los Ojos
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Cebolla
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Archuleta County (CO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Biggs, with the one closest to Biggs listed first.
    • Chromo
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Trujillo
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Trujillo is located in Archuleta County (CO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trujillo
    • Juanita ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Juanita is located in Archuleta County (CO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juanita
    • Gato
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Gato is located in Archuleta County (CO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gato
    • Pagosa Springs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Conejos County (CO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Biggs, with the one closest to Biggs listed first.
    • Cumbres
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Cumbres is located in Conejos County (CO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumbres
    • Osier
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Osier is located in Conejos County (CO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osier

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

Cemeteries Near Biggs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Biggs.

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

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

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

  • Gomez Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Chama Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Martinez Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Wirt Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Rutheron Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Trujillo Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Juanita Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Pagosa Juction Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Carracas Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Altura Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • White Ranch Family Cemetery
    • The White Ranch Family Cemetery is located on private property - be sure to secure permission before visiting.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Ranch Family Cemetery
    • The White Ranch Family Cemetery has also been known as:
    • White Spring Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2484263 <4>
  • Hilltop Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Hilltop Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northwest of Pagosa Springs (CO).
    • The Hilltop Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Pagosa Springs Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #57341 <4>
  • Eoff Ranch Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)

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.

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

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

  • Monero
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Monero is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monero
  • Amargo
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Amargo is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amargo
  • Willow Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Willow Creek is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Creek
  • Chromo
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Chama
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Chama is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chama
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 976 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chama <2>
  • Dulce
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Lobato ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Lobato is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lobato
  • Navajo
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Navajo is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navajo
  • Tierra Amarilla ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Tierra Amarilla is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tierra Amarilla
  • Cumbres
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Cumbres is located in Conejos County (CO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumbres
  • Juanita ‑ Historic
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Juanita is located in Archuleta County (CO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juanita
  • Carracas
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Carracas is located in Archuleta County (CO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carracas
  • Pagosa Springs
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Toltec
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Toltec is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toltec

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

Newspapers Published in Biggs ...

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 17 newspapers that have been published in the area around Biggs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Biggs, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Biggs.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Biggs:

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Biggs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Biggs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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.