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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 Paragonah (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 Paragonah. 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 Paragonah ...

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, Paragonah had several name changes:

  • Prior to its current name of Paragonah, it was known as Paragoonah.
  • Before changing to Paragoonah, it was named Red Creek.
  • The town of Paragonah was originally named Red Creek

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 Paragonah ...

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

  • Paragonah was established in 1851.

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.

Paragonah is located in Iron 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 Iron County: Lincoln (NV), Beaver, Garfield, Kane & Washington.

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

  • Iron County     (The home county of Paragonah)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Paragonah, with the one closest to Paragonah listed first.
    • Paragonah Fort ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Paragonah Fort. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paragonah Fort
      • Paragonah Fort is located in Iron County
    • Parowan Adobe Fort ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Parowan Adobe Fort. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parowan Adobe Fort
      • Parowan Adobe Fort is located in Iron County
    • Parowan
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Buckhorn Springs ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckhorn Springs
      • Buckhorn Springs is located in Iron County
    • Summit
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Brian Head
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Fort Johnson ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • 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
    • Enoch
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Johnson's Fort ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • 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.<1>
      • 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
    • Cedar City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • 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 <2>
    • Cedar Highlands
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Highlands
      • Cedar Highlands is located in Iron County
    • Hamiltons Fort
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • 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
  • Beaver County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Paragonah, with the one closest to Paragonah listed first.
    • Lees Spring ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lees Spring. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lees Spring
      • Lees Spring is located in Beaver County
    • Minersville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minersville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minersville
      • Minersville is located in Beaver County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 930 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Minersville <2>
    • Adamsville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsville
      • Adamsville is located in Beaver County
      • Former names for Adamsville:
      • Beaver Iron Works
      • Wales
    • Greenville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
      • Greenville is located in Beaver County
    • Beaver
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver
      • Beaver is located in Beaver County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,200 people
      • Beaver has also been known as:
      • Beaver City
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Beaver <2>
    • Fort Cameron ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fort Cameron. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Cameron
      • Fort Cameron is located in Beaver County
    • Bradshaw ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bradshaw. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradshaw
      • Bradshaw is located in Beaver County
      • Bradshaw has also been known as:
      • Bradshaw City
      • Cave Mine Camp
      • Cave Mine
  • Garfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Paragonah, with the one closest to Paragonah listed first.
    • Panguitch Lake Resort
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Panguitch Fort ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Panguitch Fort. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panguitch Fort
      • Panguitch Fort is located in Garfield County
    • Panguitch
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Bear Valley Junction
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Valley Junction
      • Bear Valley Junction is located in Garfield County
    • Hatch
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hatch have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatch
      • Hatch is located in Garfield County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 141 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hatch <2>
    • Hillsdale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillsdale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
      • Hillsdale is located in Garfield County
    • Bone Valley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bone Valley
      • Bone Valley is located in Garfield County
    • Asay ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asay
      • Asay is located in Garfield County
      • Asay has also been known as:
      • Asay Town
      • Asays
  • Kane County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Paragonah, with the one closest to Paragonah listed first.
    • Duck Creek Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Long Valley Junction
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Paragonah ...

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 18 newspapers that have been published in the area around Paragonah.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Paragonah, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Paragonah.

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 websites either 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 Paragonah:

Cemeteries Near Paragonah ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Paragonah.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Paragonah, with the one closest to Paragonah 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Paragonah had a population of 234 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Paragonah had a population of 556 people.

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

  • Parowan
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Panguitch
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Cedar City
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • 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 <2>
  • Lees Spring ‑ Historic
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lees Spring. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lees Spring
    • Lees Spring is located in Beaver County
  • Minersville
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minersville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minersville
    • Minersville is located in Beaver County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 930 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Minersville <2>
  • Adamsville
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsville
    • Adamsville is located in Beaver County
    • Former names for Adamsville:
    • Beaver Iron Works
    • Wales
  • Greenville
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
    • Greenville is located in Beaver County
  • Beaver
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver
    • Beaver is located in Beaver County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,200 people
    • Beaver has also been known as:
    • Beaver City
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Beaver <2>

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

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

The official website for Iron County: www.ironnet.org/

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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Paragonah) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Paragonah. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8860, Longitude: -112.7750    
<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 Paragonah, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 22 Sep 2024