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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 Coal City (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 Coal City. 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 Coal City ...

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.

Over the years, Coal City had several name changes:

  • Prior to its current name of Coal City, it was known as Great Western.
  • Before changing to Great Western, it was named Cedar Mesa Ranch.
  • Coal City was originally named Oak Springs Bench

In addition to the above names, Coal City had past names of Dempsey City and Dempseyville.

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.

A Few Details for Coal City ...

While it's still very early in our research, we found that:

  • Coal City was established in 1885.

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 northwest 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 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 west 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.

Coal City is located in Carbon 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 Carbon County: Duchesne, Emery, Grand, Sanpete & Utah.

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

  • Carbon County     (The home county of Coal City)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Coal City, with the one closest to Coal City listed first.
    • Consumers ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Consumers. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Consumers
      • Consumers is located in Carbon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Consumers
      • From Coal City to Consumers
    • National ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for National. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for National
      • National is located in Carbon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to National
      • From Coal City to National
    • Sweet ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sweet. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet
      • Sweet is located in Carbon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sweet
      • From Coal City to Sweet
    • Mutual ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mutual. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mutual
      • Mutual is located in Carbon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Mutual
      • From Coal City to Mutual
    • Latuda ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Latuda. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latuda
      • Latuda is located in Carbon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Latuda
      • From Coal City to Latuda
    • Rains ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rains. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rains
      • Rains is located in Carbon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rains
      • From Coal City to Rains
    • Standardville ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Peerless ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Spring Canyon ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Spring Canyon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Canyon
      • Spring Canyon is located in Carbon County
      • Spring Canyon has also been known as:
      • Storrs
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Spring Canyon
      • From Coal City to Spring Canyon
    • Clear Creek
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Heiner ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Heiner. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heiner
      • Heiner is located in Carbon County
      • Former names for Heiner:
      • Carbon
      • Panther
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Heiner
      • From Coal City to Heiner
    • Castle Gate ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Emery County
  • Sanpete County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Coal City, with the one closest to Coal City listed first.
    • Beaver Dams
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Fairview
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairview have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
      • Fairview is located in Sanpete County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,381 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairview <3>
    • Mount Pleasant
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Spring City Fort ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Spring City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Utah County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Coal City, with the one closest to Coal City listed first.
    • Colton ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Colton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colton
      • Colton is located in Utah County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Colton
      • From Coal City to Colton
    • Tucker ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tucker. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker
      • Tucker is located in Utah County
      • Former name for Tucker:
      • Clear Creek
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Tucker
      • From Coal City to Tucker
    • Mill Fork ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mill Fork. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Fork
      • Mill Fork is located in Utah County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Mill Fork
      • From Coal City to Mill Fork
  • Wasatch County

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

Cemeteries Near Coal City ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Coal City.

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

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

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.<5>

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

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

  • Helper
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Scofield
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Hale ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hale
    • Hale is located in Emery County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Hale
    • From Coal City to Hale
  • Price
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Price have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Price
    • Price is located in Carbon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,427 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Price <3>
  • Colton ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Colton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colton
    • Colton is located in Utah County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Colton
    • From Coal City to Colton
  • Soldier Summit ‑ Historic
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Tucker ‑ Historic
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tucker. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker
    • Tucker is located in Utah County
    • Former name for Tucker:
    • Clear Creek
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Tucker
    • From Coal City to Tucker
  • Tucker ‑ Historic
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tucker. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker
    • Tucker is located in Utah County
    • Former name for Tucker:
    • Clear Creek
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Tucker
    • From Coal City to Tucker
  • Fairview
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairview have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
    • Fairview is located in Sanpete County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,381 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairview <3>
  • Huntington
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
  • Cleveland
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
  • Mount Pleasant
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Hill Top
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hill Top have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill Top
      • Hill Top is located in Sanpete County
    • Mill Fork ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mill Fork. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Fork
      • Mill Fork is located in Utah County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Mill Fork
      • From Coal City to Mill Fork
    • Lawrence ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Coal City ...

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 15 newspapers that have been published in the area around Coal City.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Coal City, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Coal City.

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 Coal City:

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

The official website for Carbon County: www.carboncountyutah.com/

The official website for State of Utah: https://www.utah.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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 Coal City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Coal City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Coal City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6665, Longitude: -111.0154    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025