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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 Blue Springs (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 Blue Springs. 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.

Name Variations for Blue Springs ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Blue Springs: Blue Spgs. (or less commonly used: Blue Spngs. or Blue Sprngs.)

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Blue Springs is located in Washington County.

To see how the shape of Utah's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Washington County: Mohave (AZ), Lincoln (NV), Iron & Kane.

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

  • Washington County     (The home county of Blue Springs)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue Springs, with the one closest to Blue Springs listed first.
    • Fort Harmony ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Harmony
      • Fort Harmony is located in Washington County
    • Little Zion ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Zion
      • Little Zion is located in Washington County
    • Pintura
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pintura
      • Pintura is located in Washington County
      • Former names for Pintura:
      • Ashton
      • Bellvue
    • Springdale
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Duncans Retreat ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncans Retreat
      • Duncans Retreat is located in Washington County
    • Dalton ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dalton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalton
      • Dalton is located in Washington County
    • Virgin
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • New Harmony
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Adventure ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Adventure. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adventure
      • Adventure is located in Washington County
    • Grafton ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grafton
      • Grafton is located in Washington County
    • Northrop ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Northrop. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northrop
      • Northrop is located in Washington County
    • Anderson Junction
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson Junction
      • Anderson Junction is located in Washington County
      • Former names for Anderson Junction:
      • Anderson's Ranch
      • McPhersons Flat
  • Garfield County
  • Iron County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue Springs, with the one closest to Blue Springs listed first.
    • Fort Kanarra ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fort Kanarra. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Kanarra
      • Fort Kanarra is located in Iron County
    • Kanarraville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kanarraville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanarraville
      • Kanarraville is located in Iron County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kanarraville <1>
    • Hamiltons Fort
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamiltons Fort
      • Hamiltons Fort is located in Iron County
      • Former names for Hamiltons Fort:
      • Fort Hamblin
      • Fort Sidon
      • Fort Walker
      • Hambleton
      • Hamblin
      • Shirts Creek
      • Sidon
      • Hamiltons Fort has also been known as:
      • Hamilton Fort
      • Hamilton
    • Cedar Highlands
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Highlands
      • Cedar Highlands is located in Iron County
    • Cedar City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar City
      • Cedar City is located in Iron County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 36,090 people
      • Former names for Cedar City:
      • Coal Creek
      • Little Muddy
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedar City <1>
    • Brian Head
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Little Pinto ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Little Pinto. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Pinto
      • Little Pinto is located in Iron County
      • Little Pinto has also been known as:
      • Page Ranch
    • Enoch
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Johnson's Fort ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Johnson's Fort. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson's Fort
      • Johnson's Fort is located in Iron County
      • Johnson's Fort has also been known as:
      • Johnson Springs
    • Old Irontown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Irontown
      • Old Irontown is located in Iron County
      • Old Irontown has also been known as:
      • Iron City
      • Irontown
    • Fort Johnson ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Johnson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Johnson
      • Fort Johnson is located in Iron County
    • Summit
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Kane County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue Springs, with the one closest to Blue Springs listed first.
    • Duck Creek Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Mount Carmel Junction
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Mount Carmel
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Orderville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Glendale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Long Valley Junction
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Mohave County (AZ)
    • Colorado City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Blue Springs ...

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 10 newspapers that have been published in the area around Blue Springs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Blue Springs, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Blue Springs.

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 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 Blue Springs:

Cemeteries Near Blue Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Blue Springs.

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

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

  • Kanarraville Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Ft. Harmony
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Ft. Harmony. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ft. Harmony
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2537127 <5>
  • Gregerson Family Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Springdale Jolley - Gifford Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Hilltop Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • New Harmony Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Pioneer Memorial Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Pioneer Memorial Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Virgin.
    • The Pioneer Memorial Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Virgin Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Memorial Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #77489 <5>
  • Duncan's Retreat Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Duncan's Retreat Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Duncan's Retreat Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #109355 <5>
  • Anderson Family Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Grafton Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Rockville Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Toquerville Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (19 more) ...
    • La Verkin Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Shonesburg Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Shonesburg Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shonesburg Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #109369 <5>
    • Hurricane City Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)

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

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

  • Kanarraville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kanarraville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanarraville
    • Kanarraville is located in Iron County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kanarraville <1>
  • Virgin
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • New Harmony
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Rockville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Cedar City
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar City
    • Cedar City is located in Iron County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 36,090 people
    • Former names for Cedar City:
    • Coal Creek
    • Little Muddy
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedar City <1>
  • Silver Reef ‑ Historic
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Reef
    • Silver Reef is located in Washington County
  • Mount Carmel
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
  • Orderville
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
  • Glendale
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
  • Pine Valley
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Pinto
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinto
    • Pinto is located in Washington County

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Blue Springs. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Washington County: www.washco.state.ut.us/

The official website for State of Utah: https://www.utah.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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Blue Springs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Blue Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4016, Longitude: -113.0466    
<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 Blue Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024