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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 Gibbs Place (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 Gibbs Place. 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.

Name Variations for Gibbs Place ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

  • A typical abbreviation for Gibbs Place: Gibbs Pl. (or less commonly used: Gibbs Plc.)
  • While the name of this community is Gibbs Place, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Gibbs Place may originally have been Gibb's Place.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Gibbs Place might be written as Gibb Place.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 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.

Gibbs Place is located in Socorro 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 Socorro County: Catron, Cibola, Lincoln, Sierra, Torrance & Valencia.

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

  • Socorro County     (The home county of Gibbs Place)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gibbs Place, with the one closest to Gibbs Place listed first.
    • La Joya
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Joya
      • La Joya is located in Socorro County
    • San Acacia
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Alamillo
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamillo
      • Alamillo is located in Socorro County
    • Polvadera
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Lemitar
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Limitar
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limitar
      • Limitar is located in Socorro County
    • Abeytas
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abeytas
      • Abeytas is located in Socorro County
    • Contreras
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Contreras
      • Contreras is located in Socorro County
    • Las Nutrias
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Nutrias
      • Las Nutrias is located in Socorro County
    • Veguita
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Socorro
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • San Antonio
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Antonio
      • San Antonio is located in Socorro County
  • Torrance County
    • Abo ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abo
      • Abo is located in Torrance County
  • Valencia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gibbs Place, with the one closest to Gibbs Place listed first.
    • Bosque
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Casa Colorada
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casa Colorada
      • Casa Colorada is located in Valencia County
    • Jarales
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jarales have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jarales
      • Jarales is located in Valencia County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jarales <2>
    • Rio Communities
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rio Communities have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio Communities
      • Rio Communities is located in Valencia County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rio Communities <2>
    • Belen
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belen
      • Belen is located in Valencia County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,496 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Belen <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Gibbs Place ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gibbs Place.

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

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

  • La Joya Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the La Joya Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the La Joya Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Polvadera Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Polvadera Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Polvadera Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lemitar Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lemitar Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lemitar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Escondido Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Escondido Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Escondido Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Abeytas Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Abeytas Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Abeytas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • San Miguel Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the San Miguel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the San Miguel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Veguita Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Veguita Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Veguita Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Casa de Coloradas Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
  • Carthage Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Carthage Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Carthage Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...

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 Gibbs Place in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Gibbs Place.

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

  • La Joya
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Joya
    • La Joya is located in Socorro County
  • San Acacia
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Alamillo
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamillo
    • Alamillo is located in Socorro County
  • Sabinal
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sabinal have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sabinal
    • Sabinal is located in Socorro County
  • Socorro
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • San Antonio
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Antonio
    • San Antonio is located in Socorro County
  • Carthage ‑ Historic
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carthage have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carthage
    • Carthage is located in Socorro County
  • Belen
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belen
    • Belen is located in Valencia County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,496 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Belen <2>
  • Kelly ‑ Historic
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kelly. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<6>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
    • Kelly is located in Socorro County

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

Newspapers Published in Gibbs Place ...

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 44 newspapers that have been published in the area around Gibbs Place.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Gibbs Place, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<7>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Gibbs Place.

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 Gibbs Place:

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 Gibbs Place, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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.
<7>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- Gibbs Place) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Gibbs Place. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.2678, Longitude: -106.7300       In this case, the coordinates for Gibbs Place have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025