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The Commemorative Quarter for Utah





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 Moab (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 Moab. 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.

A Few Details for Moab ...

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

  • Moab was established in 1878.
  • It was incorporated on December 20, 1902.

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 and doctors 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.

Moab is located in Grand County and is the County Seat.

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 Grand County: Garfield (CO), Mesa (CO), Carbon, Emery, San Juan & Uintah.

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

  • Grand County     (The home county of Moab)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Moab, with the one closest to Moab listed first.
    • Plainfield ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Plainfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainfield
      • Plainfield is located in Grand County
      • Plainfield has also been known as:
      • Bueno
      • Poverty Flat
      • Poverty Flats
      • Spanish Valley
    • Wilson's Mesa ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wilson's Mesa. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson's Mesa
      • Wilson's Mesa is located in Grand County
      • Wilson's Mesa has also been known as:
      • Mesa
    • Castle Valley
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castle Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Valley
      • Castle Valley is located in Grand County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 351 people
    • Castleton ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castleton
      • Castleton is located in Grand County
    • Richardson ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Richardson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richardson
      • Richardson is located in Grand County
    • Basin ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Basin
      • Basin is located in Grand County
    • Dewey ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dewey have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewey
      • Dewey is located in Grand County
    • Valley City ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Valley City. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley City
      • Valley City is located in Grand County
    • Thompson Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Brendel
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brendel
      • Brendel is located in Grand County
    • Crescent Junction
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Junction
      • Crescent Junction is located in Grand County
    • Cisco ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • San Juan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Moab, with the one closest to Moab listed first.
    • Spanish Valley
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Valley
      • Spanish Valley is located in San Juan County
    • La Sal
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • La Sal ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Sal have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Sal
      • La Sal is located in San Juan County
      • Former name for La Sal:
      • Coyote
      • La Sal has also been known as:
      • Old La Sal

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

Newspapers Published in Moab ...

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 3 newspapers that have been published in the area around Moab.

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 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 Moab:

Cemeteries Near Moab ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Moab.

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

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

  • Grand Valley Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Sunset Memorial Gardens
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Castle Valley Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Red Cliffs Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Castleton Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Hole 'n the Rock Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Hole 'n the Rock Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hole 'n the Rock Cemetery
  • Pinhook Battle Site Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Andy Swenson Gravesite
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • La Sal Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Thompson Springs Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Thompson Springs Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • The Thompson Springs Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Thompson Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Thompson Springs Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #77466 <4>

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Moab had a population of 333 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Moab had a population of 5,373 people.

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

  • Richardson ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Richardson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richardson
    • Richardson is located in Grand County
  • La Sal
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Sagers
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sagers have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sagers
    • Sagers is located in Grand County
  • Thompson Springs
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • La Sal ‑ Historic
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Sal have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Sal
    • La Sal is located in San Juan County
    • Former name for La Sal:
    • Coyote
    • La Sal has also been known as:
    • Old La Sal

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

The official website for Moab: www.moabcity.state.ut.us/

The official website for Grand County: www.grandcountyutah.net/

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 Moab, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024