What we know

Virginia post office from Sept. 29, 1869, renamed Frost's Ranch Feb. 8, 1871; Rock Ridge replaced it in Feb. 1872. Spring Valley 10 miles south, Bijou Basin 23 east, Huntsville 19 west (1871 report). 'Frost's Rancho — Douglas; stock; population 15' (1874 list).

Where it was

NW1/4 of the SE1/4 of Sec. 8, T9S R65W, from the post office site report of Feb. 12, 1871, signed by the postmaster, '__ K. Frost' (first name unclear): local name Virginia, 'ch. na. to Frost's Ranch', about 50 yards north of the East Fork of Cherry Creek (NARA M1126, S-0113), via the BLM PLSS survey grid. Good to a few hundred feet.

Placed from a written description, such as a land section, a distance from a landmark or an old survey note.

See it on the map

Sources

S-0016: Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection (coloradohistoricnewspapers.org)
S-0036: George A. Crofutt, Crofutt's Grip-Sack Guide of Colorado (1881)
S-0039: Colorado State Business Directory (1877)
S-0045: Larkspur Historical Society website (larkspurhistoricalsociety.org)
S-0057: Colorado State Business Directory: 1875 (J.A. Blake) and an 88-page excerpt of 1915 (Gazetteer Publishing Co.)
S-0064: Wikipedia, "List of post offices in Colorado" (A–F, G–O, P–Z) and town articles
S-0065: Colorado Council of Genealogical Societies, Place Names of Colorado (1999), PDF hosted by the Denver Public Library
S-0066: Jim Forte Postal History, U.S. post office database (postalhistory.com)
S-0085: Rock Ridge in the newspapers, 1873–1900 (via S-0016)
S-0087: U.S. Post Office Department, post office site location reports (as copied in the Larkspur binders, S-0005)
S-0113: U.S. Post Office Department, Reports of Site Locations, 1837–1950 (NARA microfilm M1126), Colorado rolls 73 and 74: Douglas, Elbert and El Paso counties
S-0120: Bureau of Land Management, National Public Land Survey System (PLSS) data: CadNSDI section and quarter-section polygons, Colorado

Sources are named in the text above. Numbers such as S-0080 refer to our source list. Most newspaper quotations were read in the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. Long quotations from recent books are shortened here.

Know more about Frost's Ranch?

Corrections, family stories, photographs, deeds, letters and maps are all welcome. Messages and files come to Michael Christensen privately; nothing appears on the site until it has been checked, and you'll be credited the way you ask.