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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 Los Cordovas (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 Los Cordovas. 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.

Los Cordovas is located in Taos 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 Taos County: Conejos (CO), Costilla (CO), Colfax, Mora & Rio Arriba.

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

  • Taos County     (The home county of Los Cordovas)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Los Cordovas, with the one closest to Los Cordovas listed first.
    • Ranchito
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Ranchos de Taos
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Taos
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Talpa
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talpa
      • Talpa is located in Taos County
    • Canon
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canon
      • Canon is located in Taos County
    • El Prado
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Carson
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Taos Pueblo
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Taos Pueblo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taos Pueblo
      • Taos Pueblo is located in Taos County
    • Shady Brook
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Brook
      • Shady Brook is located in Taos County
    • Arroyo Seco
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Arroyo Hondo
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Valdez
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Pilar
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Colfax County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Los Cordovas, with the one closest to Los Cordovas listed first.
    • Angel Fire
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Lakeview Pines
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Pines
      • Lakeview Pines is located in Colfax County
    • Idlewild
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idlewild
      • Idlewild is located in Colfax County
    • Eagle Nest
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Nest have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
    • Virginia City ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virginia City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia City
      • Virginia City is located in Colfax County
  • Mora County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Los Cordovas, with the one closest to Los Cordovas listed first.
    • Chacon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Holman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Guadalupita
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Cleveland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Rio Arriba County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Los Cordovas, with the one closest to Los Cordovas listed first.
    • Apodaca
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apodaca
      • Apodaca is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Dixon
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Embudo
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • LaMadera
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for LaMadera
      • LaMadera is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Petaca
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Velarde
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Truchas
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Vallecitos
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Cordova
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Los Luceros
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Luceros
      • Los Luceros is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Estaca
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estaca
      • Estaca is located in Rio Arriba County
    • La Villita
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Villita
      • La Villita is located in Rio Arriba County
    • El Rito
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Santa Fe County
    • Rio Chiquito
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rio Chiquito have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio Chiquito
      • Rio Chiquito is located in Santa Fe County

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

Cemeteries Near Los Cordovas ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Los Cordovas.

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

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

  • Penas Negras Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Penas Negras Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Penas Negras Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hart Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hart Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pacheco Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pacheco Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pacheco Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Graham Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Graham Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Graham Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Descariso Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Descariso Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Descariso Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Francis Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Francis Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Francis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • LaLoma Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the LaLoma Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the LaLoma Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Talpa Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Talpa Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Talpa Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Los Dolores Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Los Dolores Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Los Dolores Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Canon Brethren Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Canon Brethren Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Canon Brethren Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Los Cruces Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Los Cruces Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Los Cruces Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kit Carson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kit Carson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kit Carson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (52 more) ...
    • Campo Santo del Pueblo Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Campo Santo del Pueblo Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Campo Santo del Pueblo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Sierra Vista Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sierra Vista Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sierra Vista Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Colonias Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Colonias Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Colonias Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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

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

  • Taos
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Arroyo Seco
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Arroyo Hondo
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Barranca
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barranca have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barranca
    • Barranca is located in Taos County
  • Penasco
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Penasco have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penasco
    • Penasco is located in Taos County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Penasco <1>
  • Rinconada
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rinconada have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rinconada
    • Rinconada is located in Rio Arriba County
  • Servilleta
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Servilleta. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Servilleta
    • Servilleta is located in Taos County
  • Embudo
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Questa
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Questa have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Questa
    • Questa is located in Taos County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,741 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Questa <1>
  • Ojo Caliente
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • Velarde
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
  • Elizabethtown ‑ Historic
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elizabethtown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabethtown
    • Elizabethtown is located in Colfax County
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Los Cordovas ...

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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Los Cordovas.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Los Cordovas, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Los Cordovas.

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 Los Cordovas:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Los Cordovas. 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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.
<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 Los Cordovas, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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.
<5>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- Los Cordovas) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Los Cordovas. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.3872, Longitude: -105.6375       In this case, the coordinates for Los Cordovas have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025