RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New Mexico >> Lincoln County >> Polly >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
New Mexico

The Commemorative Quarter for New Mexico





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 Polly (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 Polly. 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.

Polly is located in Lincoln 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 Lincoln County: Chaves, DeBaca, Guadalupe, Otero, Sierra, Socorro & Torrance.

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

  • Lincoln County     (The home county of Polly)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Polly, with the one closest to Polly listed first.
    • Carrizozo
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Nogal
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Bonito
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonito
      • Bonito is located in Lincoln County
    • Sierra Vista
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sierra Vista
      • Sierra Vista is located in Lincoln County
    • Sun Valley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sun Valley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley
      • Sun Valley is located in Lincoln County
    • Capitan
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Capitan have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capitan
      • Capitan is located in Lincoln County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,457 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Capitan <1>
    • Alpine Cellars Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpine Cellars Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine Cellars Village
      • Alpine Cellars Village is located in Lincoln County
    • Alto
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Ruidoso
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Fort Stanton ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Stanton
      • Fort Stanton is located in Lincoln County
    • Hollywood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollywood
      • Hollywood is located in Lincoln County
    • Ruidoso Downs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ruidoso Downs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruidoso Downs
      • Ruidoso Downs is located in Lincoln County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,631 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ruidoso Downs <1>
  • Otero County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Polly, with the one closest to Polly listed first.
    • Carrizo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carrizo
      • Carrizo is located in Otero County
    • Bent
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Mescalero
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Socorro County
    • Coane ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Coane. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coane
      • Coane is located in Socorro County

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

Cemeteries Near Polly ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Polly.

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

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

  • Our Lady of Guadalupe Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Our Lady of Guadalupe Cemetery
    • The Our Lady of Guadalupe Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Guadalupe Catholic Church Cemetery
    • Santa Rita Cemetery
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Nogal Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nogal Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nogal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cedarvale Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cedarvale Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Cedarvale Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 10 miles [16.1 km]<4> to the southwest of Carrizozo.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #37992 <5>
  • Silva Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Silva Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Silva Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Forest Lawn Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • West - Box Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West - Box Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the West - Box Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the West - Box Cemetery is located 7 miles [11.3 km]<4> to the north of Capitan.
    • The West - Box Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Pioneer Little Creek Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2176448 <5>
  • Reventon Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Reventon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Reventon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Patos Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Patos Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Patos Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jicarilla Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jicarilla Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jicarilla Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Stetson Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Encinoso Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Encinoso Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Encinoso Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Ruidoso-Hondo Valley Memorial Park
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Ancho Cemetery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ancho Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ancho Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Walters Cemetery
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Walters Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Walters Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #38504 <5>

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.<6>

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

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

  • Nogal
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Bonito
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonito
    • Bonito is located in Lincoln County
  • White Oaks ‑ Historic
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oaks
    • White Oaks is located in Lincoln County
  • Ruidoso
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Fort Stanton ‑ Historic
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Stanton
    • Fort Stanton is located in Lincoln County

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

Newspapers Published in Polly ...

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 29 newspapers that have been published in the area around Polly.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Polly, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Polly.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Polly:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Polly. 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>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>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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Polly) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Polly. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5754, Longitude: -105.9578       In this case, the coordinates for Polly have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<6>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 Polly, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025