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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 Ruidoso Downs (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 Ruidoso Downs. 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.

Ruidoso Downs 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 Ruidoso Downs. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Ruidoso Downs:

  • Lincoln County     (The home county of Ruidoso Downs)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ruidoso Downs, with the one closest to Ruidoso Downs listed first.
    • Hollywood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollywood
      • Hollywood is located in Lincoln County
    • Ruidoso
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Alpine Cellars Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpine Cellars Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Sierra Vista
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sierra Vista
      • Sierra Vista is located in Lincoln County
    • Sun Valley
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley
      • Sun Valley is located in Lincoln County
    • Glencoe
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Bonito
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonito
      • Bonito is located in Lincoln County
    • Fort Stanton ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Stanton
      • Fort Stanton is located in Lincoln County
    • Capitan
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Capitan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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>
    • Lincoln
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
      • Lincoln is located in Lincoln County
    • Nogal
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Otero County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ruidoso Downs, with the one closest to Ruidoso Downs listed first.
    • Carrizo
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carrizo
      • Carrizo is located in Otero County
    • Mescalero
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Bent
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Cloudcroft
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Hortonville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hortonville
      • Hortonville is located in Otero County
    • High Rolls
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Rolls
      • High Rolls is located in Otero County
    • Mountain Park
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Park
      • Mountain Park is located in Otero County
    • Tularosa
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Ruidoso Downs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ruidoso Downs.

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

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

  • Stetson Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Ruidoso-Hondo Valley Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Forest Lawn Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • San Ysidro Mission Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • West - Box Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • 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.<3>
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the West - Box Cemetery is located 7 miles [11.3 km]<5> 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 <4>
  • Whitetail Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Whitetail Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Whitetail Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #38512 <4>
  • Glencoe Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Glencoe Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Glencoe Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • George Coe Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the George Coe Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the George Coe Cemetery is located 6 miles [9.7 km]<5> to the east of San Patricio.
    • The George Coe Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Coe Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #38008 <4>
  • San Patricio Catholic Church Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Blazer Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Blazers Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blazers Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blazers Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mescalero Indian Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (22 more) ...
    • St. Jude Catholic Mission Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Lincoln Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lincoln Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lincoln Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Griego Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Griego Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Griego 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.<6>

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

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

  • Ruidoso
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Bonito
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonito
    • Bonito is located in Lincoln County
  • Fort Stanton ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Stanton
    • Fort Stanton is located in Lincoln County
  • Nogal
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Lincoln
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
    • Lincoln is located in Lincoln County
  • Picacho
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
  • White Oaks ‑ Historic
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oaks
    • White Oaks 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 Ruidoso Downs. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ruidoso Downs.

Newspapers Published in Ruidoso Downs ...

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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ruidoso Downs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ruidoso Downs, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ruidoso Downs.

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 helpful 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 Ruidoso Downs:

The official website for Ruidoso Downs: www.ruidosodowns.us/

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>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.
<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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ruidoso Downs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ruidoso Downs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.3320, Longitude: -105.5960       In this case, the coordinates for Ruidoso Downs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Ruidoso Downs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025