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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 Salt Lake 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 Salt Lake 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 Salt Lake 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.

The city of Salt Lake City was originally named Great Salt Lake City

  • A typical abbreviation for Salt Lake City: Salt Lk. City

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 Salt Lake City ...

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

  • Salt Lake City was established in 1847.

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.

Salt Lake City is located in Salt Lake 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 Salt Lake County: Davis, Morgan, Summit, Tooele, Utah & Wasatch.

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

  • Salt Lake County     (The home county of Salt Lake City)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Salt Lake City, with the one closest to Salt Lake City listed first.
    • Fort Salt Lake City ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Granite
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Granite have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite
      • Granite is located in Salt Lake County
    • Jackson Park Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jackson Park Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson Park Village
      • Jackson Park Village is located in Salt Lake County
    • South Salt Lake
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Victory Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Victory Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victory Village
      • Victory Village is located in Salt Lake County
    • Lincoln Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lincoln Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Village
      • Lincoln Village is located in Salt Lake County
    • Foothill Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Foothill Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foothill Village
      • Foothill Village is located in Salt Lake County
    • Fort Douglas
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • University Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for University Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Village
      • University Village is located in Salt Lake County
    • Clark Village Gardens
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clark Village Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clark Village Gardens
      • Clark Village Gardens is located in Salt Lake County
    • Sugar House ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Yuma View
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Redwood Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Redwood Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redwood Village
      • Redwood Village is located in Salt Lake County
  • Davis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Salt Lake City, with the one closest to Salt Lake City listed first.
    • North Salt Lake
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Salt Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Salt Lake
      • North Salt Lake is located in Davis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,204 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for North Salt Lake <3>
    • Val Verda
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Oakhaven Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oakhaven Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakhaven Village
      • Oakhaven Village is located in Davis County
    • Woods Cross
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Bountiful Fort ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Bountiful
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Cottonwood Heights
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cottonwood Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood Heights
      • Cottonwood Heights is located in Davis County
    • West Bountiful
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Bountiful have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bountiful
      • West Bountiful is located in Davis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,920 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Bountiful <3>
    • Centerville Fort ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Centerville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Center Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Village
      • Center Village is located in Davis County
    • Chase Lane Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chase Lane Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chase Lane Village
      • Chase Lane Village is located in Davis County
    • Benchmark Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Benchmark Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benchmark Village
      • Benchmark Village is located in Davis County
  • Morgan County
  • Summit County
  • Tooele County
  • Utah County
  • Wasatch County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Salt Lake City, with the one closest to Salt Lake City listed first.
    • Cranmer
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cranmer. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranmer
      • Cranmer is located in Wasatch County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cranmer
      • From Salt Lake City to Cranmer
    • Keetley ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Keetley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keetley
      • Keetley is located in Wasatch County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Keetley
      • From Salt Lake City to Keetley
    • Interlaken
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Mound City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hailstone ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Hideout
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hideout have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hideout
      • Hideout is located in Wasatch County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,254 people
    • Jordanelle
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Midway
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Midway have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
      • Midway is located in Wasatch County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,465 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Midway <3>
    • Charleston
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Charleston have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charleston
      • Charleston is located in Wasatch County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 496 people
    • Heber City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Weber County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Salt Lake City, with the one closest to Salt Lake City listed first.
    • Fort Kington ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Uintah Fort ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Uintah
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Uintah Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Uintah Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uintah Village
      • Uintah Village is located in Weber County
    • Yorkshire Meadow
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Adamdell
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Rigde Villa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Washington Terrace
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Washington Terrace have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washington Terrace
      • Washington Terrace is located in Weber County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,185 people
    • Greenwood Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenwood Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood Village
      • Greenwood Village is located in Weber County
    • Hidden Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hidden Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Village
      • Hidden Village is located in Weber County
    • Riverdale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Roy
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roy have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roy
      • Roy is located in Weber County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 39,559 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roy <3>
    • South Ogden
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near Salt Lake City ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Salt Lake 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 Salt Lake City covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Salt Lake City, with the one closest to Salt Lake 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Salt Lake City had a population of 44,843 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Salt Lake City had a population of 204,087 people.

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

  • Franklin
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Franklin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
    • Franklin is located in Salt Lake County
  • Hot Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hot Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Springs
    • Hot Springs is located in Salt Lake County
  • Williams
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Williams have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams
    • Williams is located in Salt Lake County
  • Fort Douglas
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Buena Vista
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buena Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
    • Buena Vista is located in Salt Lake County
  • Sugar House ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Granger
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Granger have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granger
    • Granger is located in Salt Lake County
  • Millcreek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millcreek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millcreek
    • Millcreek is located in Salt Lake County
  • El Dorado
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for El Dorado have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Dorado
    • El Dorado is located in Salt Lake County
  • Murray
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Woods Cross
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Taylorsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Taylorsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylorsville
    • Taylorsville is located in Salt Lake County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 59,402 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Taylorsville <3>
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Cottonwood
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Union
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
      • Union is located in Salt Lake County
    • Riter
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Riter. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riter
      • Riter is located in Salt Lake County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Riter
      • From Salt Lake City to Riter

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Salt Lake 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 170 newspapers that have been published in the area around Salt Lake City.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Salt Lake City. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Salt Lake City and those printed in the larger area surrounding Salt Lake City.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 2 miles [3.2 km]<6> of Salt Lake City.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Salt Lake City:

The official website for Salt Lake City: www.slcgov.com/

The official website for Salt Lake County: www.slco.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>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 Salt Lake City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- Salt Lake City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Salt Lake City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.7607, Longitude: -111.8997    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025