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Home >> State of New Mexico >> Mora County >> El Alto >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 El 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 El 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 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.

El Alto is located in Mora 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 Mora County: Colfax, Harding, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Santa Fe & Taos.

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

  • Mora County     (The home county of El Alto)
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Alto, with the one closest to El Alto listed first.
    • Mora
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Abuelo
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Abuelo is located in Mora County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abuelo
    • Cleveland
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • La Cueva
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • La Cueva is located in Mora County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Cueva
    • Ledoux
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Ledoux is located in Mora County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ledoux
    • Pacheco Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Pacheco Village is located in Mora County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacheco Village
    • Rainsville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Holman
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • South Carmen
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • South Carmen is located in Mora County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Carmen
    • Golondrinas
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Golondrinas is located in Mora County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golondrinas
    • Guadalupita
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Ojo Feliz
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Chacon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Colfax County
    • Angel Fire
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Rio Arriba County
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Alto, with the one closest to El Alto listed first.
    • Truchas
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Cordova
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • San Miguel County
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Alto, with the one closest to El Alto listed first.
    • Rociada
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Pendaries Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Pendaries Village is located in San Miguel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pendaries Village
    • Sapello
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Los Alamos
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Los Alamos is located in San Miguel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Alamos
    • Hot Springs
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Hot Springs is located in San Miguel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Springs
    • Montezuma
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Trout Springs
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Trout Springs is located in San Miguel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trout Springs
    • Kroenigs
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Kroenigs is located in San Miguel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kroenigs
    • Cowles
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Cowles is located in San Miguel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowles
    • Las Vegas Town
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Las Vegas Town is located in San Miguel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Vegas Town
    • Las Vegas
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Holy Ghost ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Holy Ghost is located in San Miguel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holy Ghost
    • Romero
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Romero is located in San Miguel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romero
  • Taos County
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Alto, with the one closest to El Alto listed first.
    • Angostura
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Angostura is located in Taos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angostura
    • Tres Ritos
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Tres Ritos is located in Taos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tres Ritos
    • Llano
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Penasco
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Vadito
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Valle Escondido
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Chamisal
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Picuris Pueblo
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Picuris Pueblo is located in Taos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Picuris Pueblo
    • Rio Lucio
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Rio Lucio is located in Taos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio Lucio
    • Trampas
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Shady Brook
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Shady Brook is located in Taos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Brook
    • Talpa
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Talpa is located in Taos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talpa
    • Vallecito
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near El Alto ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of El 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.

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 El Alto - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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

  • Mora
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • La Cueva
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • La Cueva is located in Mora County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Cueva
  • Lucero
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lucero is located in Mora County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucero
  • Rociada
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Guadalupita
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • San Ignacio
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • San Ignacio is located in San Miguel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Ignacio
  • Sapello
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Loma Parda ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Loma Parda is located in Mora County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loma Parda
  • Los Alamos
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Los Alamos is located in San Miguel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Alamos
  • Ocate
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Tiptonville
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Tiptonville is located in Mora County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiptonville
  • Halls Peak ‑ Historic
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Halls Peak is located in Mora County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Peak
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Hot Springs
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Hot Springs is located in San Miguel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Springs
    • Onava
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Onava is located in San Miguel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onava
    • Kroenigs
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Kroenigs is located in San Miguel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kroenigs

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

Newspapers Published in El 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 72 newspapers that have been published in the area around El Alto.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of El Alto, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for El Alto.

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 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 El Alto:

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 El Alto, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- El Alto) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.