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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Tierra Amarilla. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Tierra Amarilla to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Tierra Amarilla, please Contact Us.

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 Tierra Amarilla (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 Tierra Amarilla. 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 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Tierra Amarilla is historic, it would have been located within present day Rio Arriba 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 Rio Arriba County: Archuleta (CO), Conejos (CO), Los Alamos, Mora, San Juan, Sandoval, Santa Fe & Taos.

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

  • Rio Arriba County     (The home county of Tierra Amarilla)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tierra Amarilla, with the one closest to Tierra Amarilla listed first.
    • Los Ojos
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Brazos
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brazos
      • Brazos is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Rutheron
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutheron
      • Rutheron is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Cebolla
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Chama
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chama
      • Chama is located in Rio Arriba County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 976 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chama <2>
    • Canjilon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Lobato ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lobato
      • Lobato is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Monero
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monero
      • Monero is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Sublette
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sublette
      • Sublette is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Lumberton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumberton
      • Lumberton is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Vallecitos
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Llaves
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Llaves
      • Llaves is located in Rio Arriba County
  • Archuleta County (CO)
    • Chromo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chromo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chromo
      • Chromo is located in Archuleta County (CO)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chromo <2>
  • Conejos County (CO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tierra Amarilla, with the one closest to Tierra Amarilla listed first.
    • Cumbres
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumbres
      • Cumbres is located in Conejos County (CO)
    • Osier
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osier
      • Osier is located in Conejos County (CO)

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

Cemeteries Near Tierra Amarilla ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Tierra Amarilla.

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

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

  • Rutheron Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Chama Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chama Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chama Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cedar Grove Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cedar Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cedar Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Canjilon Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Canjilon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Canjilon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Tusas Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tusas Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tusas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • San Miguel Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • 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.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wirt Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wirt Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wirt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gomez Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gomez Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gomez Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> 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.

Tierra Amarilla itself is historic and was described in the Rand McNally Atlas as having a population of 137 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Willow Creek
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Creek
    • Willow Creek is located in Rio Arriba County
  • Chama
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chama
    • Chama is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 976 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chama <2>
  • Lobato ‑ Historic
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lobato
    • Lobato is located in Rio Arriba County
  • Monero
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monero
    • Monero is located in Rio Arriba County
  • Cumbres
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumbres
    • Cumbres is located in Conejos County (CO)
  • Toltec
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Toltec have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toltec
    • Toltec is located in Rio Arriba County
  • Amargo
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amargo have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amargo
    • Amargo is located in Rio Arriba County
  • Sublette
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sublette
    • Sublette is located in Rio Arriba County
  • Vallecitos
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Big Horn
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Horn have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Horn
    • Big Horn is located in Rio Arriba County
  • Chromo
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chromo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chromo
    • Chromo is located in Archuleta County (CO)
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chromo <2>
  • Dulce
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Tierra Amarilla ...

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 9 newspapers that have been published in the area around Tierra Amarilla.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Tierra Amarilla. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Tierra Amarilla and those printed in the larger area surrounding Tierra Amarilla.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5> of Tierra Amarilla.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Tierra Amarilla:

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Tierra Amarilla, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 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.
<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- Tierra Amarilla) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Tierra Amarilla. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.7003, Longitude: -106.5498       In this case, the coordinates for Tierra Amarilla have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025