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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

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

We've added Dawson to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Dawson, 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 Dawson (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 Dawson. 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 hospitals and doctors 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Dawson is historic, it would have been located within present day Colfax 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 Colfax County: Costilla (CO), Las Animas (CO), Harding, Mora, Taos & Union.

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

  • Colfax County     (The home county of Dawson)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dawson, with the one closest to Dawson listed first.
    • Lauretta ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lauretta. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lauretta
      • Lauretta is located in Colfax County
    • Cimarron
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Maxwell
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maxwell have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxwell
      • Maxwell is located in Colfax County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 213 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maxwell <3>
    • Ute Park
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Miami
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Springer
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springer have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springer
      • Springer is located in Colfax County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 910 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Springer <3>
    • Brilliant ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brilliant
      • Brilliant is located in Colfax County
    • Raton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Virginia City ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virginia City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia City
      • Virginia City is located in Colfax County
    • Eagle Nest
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Nest have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Nest
      • Eagle Nest is located in Colfax County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 251 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eagle Nest <3>
    • Idlewild
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idlewild
      • Idlewild is located in Colfax County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Dawson ...

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 Dawson.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Dawson. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Dawson and those printed in the larger area surrounding Dawson.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5> of Dawson.

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 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 Dawson:

  • Genealogy information for nearby counties

Cemeteries Near Dawson ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Dawson.

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 Dawson covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Cimmarron Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Cimmarron Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Cimarron.
    • The Cimmarron Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Mountain View Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cimmarron Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #38005 <6>
  • Catskill Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Catskill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Catskill Cemetery
  • Jackson Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jackson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jackson Cemetery
  • Abreu Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Abreu Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Abreu Cemetery
  • Herrera Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Herrera Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Herrera Cemetery
  • Miami Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Miami Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Miami Cemetery
  • Mt. Calvary Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Calvary Cemetery
  • St. Johns Methodist Church Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Methodist Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Methodist Church Cemetery
  • Fairmont Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairmont Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairmont 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.

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

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

  • Cimarron
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Maxwell
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maxwell have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxwell
    • Maxwell is located in Colfax County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 213 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maxwell <3>
  • Springer
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springer have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springer
    • Springer is located in Colfax County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 910 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Springer <3>
  • Dillon
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dillon have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dillon
    • Dillon is located in Colfax County
  • Raton
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Wootton
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wootton have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wootton
    • Wootton is located in Las Animas County (CO)
  • Elizabethtown ‑ Historic
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elizabethtown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabethtown
    • Elizabethtown is located in Colfax County
  • Morley
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morley
    • Morley is located in Las Animas County (CO)

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

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

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 Dawson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Dawson) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Dawson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.6648, Longitude: -104.7752    
<6>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.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024