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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 Montecito (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 Montecito. 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 and hospitals 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.

Montecito is located in 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 Montecito. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Montecito:

  • Rio Arriba County     (The home county of Montecito)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Montecito, with the one closest to Montecito listed first.
    • Apodaca
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Apodaca is located in Rio Arriba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apodaca
    • Rinconada
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Rinconada is located in Rio Arriba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rinconada
    • Dixon
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Embudo
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Velarde
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Truchas
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Los Luceros
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Los Luceros is located in Rio Arriba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Luceros
    • Cordova
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Estaca
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Estaca is located in Rio Arriba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estaca
    • La Villita
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • La Villita is located in Rio Arriba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Villita
    • Chimayo
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Alcalde
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Mora County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Montecito, with the one closest to Montecito listed first.
    • Chacon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Holman
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Cleveland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Pacheco Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Pacheco Village is located in Mora County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacheco Village
  • San Miguel County
    • Cowles
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Cowles is located in San Miguel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowles
  • Santa Fe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Montecito, with the one closest to Montecito listed first.
    • Rio Chiquito
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Rio Chiquito is located in Santa Fe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio Chiquito
    • La Puebla
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • La Puebla is located in Santa Fe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Puebla
    • Cundiyo
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Cuartelez
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Cuartelez is located in Santa Fe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuartelez
    • Santa Cruz
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Santo Nino
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Santo Nino is located in Santa Fe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santo Nino
    • Sombrillo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Sombrillo is located in Santa Fe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sombrillo
    • Arroyo Seco
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Arroyo Seco is located in Santa Fe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arroyo Seco
    • El Valle de Arroyo Seco
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Pojoaque
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Cuyamungue
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Cuyamungue is located in Santa Fe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuyamungue
    • Jacona
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Jacona is located in Santa Fe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacona
  • Taos County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Montecito, with the one closest to Montecito listed first.
    • Vallecito
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Chamisal
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Pilar
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Trampas
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Rio Lucio
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Rio Lucio is located in Taos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio Lucio
    • Picuris Pueblo
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Picuris Pueblo is located in Taos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Picuris Pueblo
    • Penasco
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Llano
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Vadito
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Carson
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Ojo Caliente
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Talpa
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Talpa is located in Taos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talpa

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

Cemeteries Near Montecito ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Montecito.

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

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

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

  • El Santuario Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • St. Anthony Catholic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • St. Anthony Catholic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Embudo Presbyterian Church Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Embudo Presbyterian Church Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Embudo Presbyterian Church Cemetery is located outside and to the southeast of Dixon.
    • The Embudo Presbyterian Church Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Dixon Presbyterian Cemetery
    • Embudo Presbyterian Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2424075 <2>
  • Father Kauper Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Ojo Sarco Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Martinez Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Las Trampas Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Las Trampas Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • San Jose de Gracia Catholic Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Santa Cruz Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (60 more) ...
    • Ramon Sanchez Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Rio Lucio Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Picuris Pueblo Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Picuris Pueblo Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Picuris Pueblo Cemetery is located in Picuris Pueblo.
      • The Picuris Pueblo Cemetery has also been known as:
      • San Lorenzo de Picuris Parish Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2405843 <2>

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

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

  • Rinconada
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Rinconada is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rinconada
  • Embudo
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Barranca
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Barranca is located in Taos County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barranca
  • Velarde
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Penasco
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Alcalde
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Ojo Caliente
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Chamita
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Chamita is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamita
  • Santa Cruz
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Espanola
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Taos
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • El Rito
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Pojoaque
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jacona
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Jacona is located in Santa Fe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacona
    • Servilleta
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Servilleta is located in Taos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Servilleta

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

Newspapers Published in Montecito ...

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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Montecito.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Montecito, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Montecito.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Montecito:

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 Montecito, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Montecito) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.