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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 Baxter (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 Baxter. 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.

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.

Baxter is located in Jasper County.

To see how the shape of Iowa's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Jasper County: Mahaska, Marion, Marshall, Polk, Poweshiek, Story & Tama.

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

  • Jasper County     (The home county of Baxter)
  • Grundy County
    • Conrad
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Conrad have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conrad
      • Conrad is located in Grundy County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,067 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Conrad <2>
  • Hardin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Baxter, with the one closest to Baxter listed first.
    • Union
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
      • Union is located in Hardin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 373 people
    • Whitten
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Mahaska County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Baxter, with the one closest to Baxter listed first.
    • Peoria
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Taintor
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Marion County
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Baxter, with the one closest to Baxter listed first.
    • Rhodes
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rhodes have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhodes
      • Rhodes is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 298 people
    • Melbourne
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • State Center Junction
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for State Center Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Center Junction
      • State Center Junction is located in Marshall County
    • Malta
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Malta have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malta
      • Malta is located in Marshall County
    • Laurel
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Laurel have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel
      • Laurel is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 234 people
    • Haverhill
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Haverhill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haverhill
      • Haverhill is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Haverhill <2>
    • State Center
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for State Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Center
      • State Center is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,432 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for State Center <2>
    • Luray
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Luray. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luray
      • Luray is located in Marshall County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Luray
      • From Baxter to Luray
    • LaMoille
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Ferguson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ferguson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferguson
      • Ferguson is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 122 people
    • Clemons
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clemons have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clemons
      • Clemons is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 141 people
    • Dillon
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Baxter, with the one closest to Baxter listed first.
    • Santiago
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Santiago. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santiago
      • Santiago is located in Polk County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Santiago
      • From Baxter to Santiago
    • Loring
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Mitchellville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mitchellville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchellville
      • Mitchellville is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,273 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mitchellville <2>
    • Bondurant
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bondurant have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bondurant
      • Bondurant is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,293 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bondurant <2>
    • Elkhart
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Altoona
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Altoona have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altoona
      • Altoona is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,503 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Altoona <2>
    • Berwick
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Berwick. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berwick
      • Berwick is located in Polk County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Berwick
      • From Baxter to Berwick
    • Rising Sun
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rising Sun. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rising Sun
      • Rising Sun is located in Polk County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rising Sun
      • From Baxter to Rising Sun
    • Alleman
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Adelphi
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Adelphi. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adelphi
      • Adelphi is located in Polk County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Adelphi
      • From Baxter to Adelphi
    • Country Estate Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Country Estate Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Estate Village
      • Country Estate Village is located in Polk County
    • Ankeny
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ankeny have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ankeny
      • Ankeny is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 70,068 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ankeny <2>
  • Poweshiek County
  • Story County
  • Tama County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Baxter, with the one closest to Baxter listed first.
    • Montour
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montour have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montour
      • Montour is located in Tama County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 242 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montour <2>
    • Garwin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garwin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garwin
      • Garwin is located in Tama County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 490 people
  • Warren County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Baxter, with the one closest to Baxter listed first.
    • Hartford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hartford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartford
      • Hartford is located in Warren County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hartford <2>
    • Palmyra
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Baxter ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Baxter.

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

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

  • Restland Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Flock Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Flock Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Flock Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethany Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Independence Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Independence Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Independence Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Barbee Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Barbee Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Barbee Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Union Chapel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Chapel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Linder Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Linder Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Linder Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Day Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Day Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Day Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Deeter Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Kintz Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kintz Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kintz Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (292 more) ...
    • Wittemberg Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wittemberg Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wittemberg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Johns Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Zoar Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zoar Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zoar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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 Baxter had a population of 107 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Baxter had a population of 1,132 people.

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

  • Ira
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Clyde
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Clyde. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
    • Clyde is located in Jasper County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Clyde
    • From Baxter to Clyde
  • Mingo
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Green Castle
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Rhodes
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rhodes have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhodes
    • Rhodes is located in Marshall County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 298 people
  • Melbourne
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • State Center Junction
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for State Center Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Center Junction
    • State Center Junction is located in Marshall County
  • Collins
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Metz
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Newton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Malta
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Malta have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malta
    • Malta is located in Marshall County
  • Valeria
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valeria have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valeria
    • Valeria is located in Jasper County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 58 people
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Oswalt
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Colfax
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Coal Siding ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coal Siding have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Siding
      • Coal Siding is located in Jasper County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Baxter ...

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 182 newspapers that have been published in the area around Baxter.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Baxter. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Baxter and those printed in the larger area surrounding Baxter.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6> of Baxter.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Baxter:

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

The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.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>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 Baxter, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Baxter) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Baxter. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.8246, Longitude: -93.1502    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025