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 Clearfield (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 Clearfield. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Clearfield is primarily located in Taylor County. A portion of Clearfield extends into Ringgold County.
To see how the shape of Iowa's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Taylor County: Adams, Page, Ringgold, Nodaway (MO) & Worth (MO).
Below are the counties that are near Clearfield. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Clearfield:
- Taylor County (The home county of Clearfield)
- The following are listed by their distance from Clearfield, with the one closest to Clearfield listed first.
- Lenox
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Conway
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Conway is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 40 people
- Sharpsburg
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Sharpsburg is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharpsburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
- Blockton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Blockton is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blockton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
- Gravity
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Gravity is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravity
- Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
- Bedford
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Athelstan
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Athelstan is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athelstan
- Ladoga
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Ladoga is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladoga
- Guss
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Guss is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guss
- New Market
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- New Market is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Market
- Population from the 2020 Census: 397 people
- Siam
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Siam is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siam
- Adair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clearfield, with the one closest to Clearfield listed first.
- Gilead
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Gilead is located in Adair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilead
- Orient
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Zion
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Zion is located in Adair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion
- Adams County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clearfield, with the one closest to Clearfield listed first.
- Stringtown
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Stringtown is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
- Mercer
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Mercer is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercer
- Prescott
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Iveyville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Iveyville is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iveyville
- Corning
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Queen City ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Queen City is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen City
- Brooks
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Brooks is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks
- Quincy
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Quincy is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quincy
- Williamson
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Williamson is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamson
- Carl
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Carl is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carl
- Nodaway
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Nodaway is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nodaway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
- Carbon
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Carbon is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 31 people
- Mount Etna
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Mount Etna is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Etna
- Cass County
- Dewey
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Dewey is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewey
- Clarke County
- Hopeville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Hopeville is located in Clarke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopeville
- Decatur County
- Grand River
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Grand River is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand River
- Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
- Montgomery County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clearfield, with the one closest to Clearfield listed first.
- Villisca
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Clarinda Junction ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Clarinda Junction is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarinda Junction
- Sciola
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Sciola is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sciola
- Tenville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Tenville is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenville
- Page County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clearfield, with the one closest to Clearfield listed first.
- Hawleyville
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Hawleyville is located in Page County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawleyville
- Hepburn
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Hepburn is located in Page County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hepburn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 17 people
- Clarinda
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Shambaugh
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Shambaugh is located in Page County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shambaugh
- Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
- Ringgold County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clearfield, with the one closest to Clearfield listed first.
- Diagonal
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Knowlton ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Knowlton is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowlton
- Benton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Benton is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 40 people
- Maloy
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Maloy is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maloy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 27 people
- Delphos
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Delphos is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delphos
- Estimated population in 2019: 24 people
- Redding
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Redding is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redding
- Population from the 2020 Census: 77 people
- Mount Ayr
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Tingley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Ellston
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Ellston is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 38 people
- Beaconsfield
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Beaconsfield is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaconsfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15 people
- Kellerton
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Union County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clearfield, with the one closest to Clearfield listed first.
- Kent
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Kent is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
- Shannon City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Shannon City is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shannon City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 69 people
- Cromwell
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Cromwell is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cromwell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 105 people
- Arispe
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Arispe is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arispe
- Population from the 2020 Census: 96 people
- Creston
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- East Creston
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- East Creston is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Creston
- Afton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Thayer
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Thayer is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thayer
- Population from the 2020 Census: 58 people
- Harrison County (MO)
- Hatfield
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Hatfield is located in Harrison County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatfield
- Nodaway County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Clearfield, with the one closest to Clearfield listed first.
- Gaynor
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Gaynor is located in Nodaway County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaynor
- Hopkins
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Parnell
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Orrsburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Orrsburg is located in Nodaway County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orrsburg
- Pickering
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Pickering is located in Nodaway County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickering
- Population from the 2020 Census: 141 people
- Worth County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Clearfield, with the one closest to Clearfield listed first.
- Irena
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Irena is located in Worth County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irena
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16 people
- Sheridan
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Grant City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Allendale
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Oxford
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Oxford is located in Worth County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxford
- Prohibition City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Prohibition City is located in Worth County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prohibition City
- Worth
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Worth is located in Worth County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 57 people
- Denver
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Denver is located in Worth County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denver
- Population from the 2020 Census: 35 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Clearfield, see our County-by-County Page for Clearfield.
Cemeteries Near Clearfield ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Clearfield.
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.
Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Clearfield - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Clearfield covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Clearfield, with the one closest to Clearfield listed first.
- Clearfield Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Bethel Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Cabaret Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Tindle Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Keller Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Rising Sun Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- East Fairview Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Conway Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Dead Man's Curve Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Diagonal Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Morgan Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- North Fairview Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Fairview Cemetery
- The North Fairview Cemetery has also been known as:
- North Fairview Cemetery
- Continue List (244 more) ...
- West Fairview Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Fairview Cemetery
- The West Fairview Cemetery has also been known as:
- Fairview Cemetery
- Tando - Winslow Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Benton Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
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.<3>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Clearfield had a population of 452 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Clearfield had a population of 343 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Clearfield, with the one closest to Clearfield listed first.
- Lenox
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Diagonal
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Conway
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Conway is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 40 people
- Knowlton ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Knowlton is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowlton
- Sharpsburg
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Sharpsburg is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharpsburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
- Maloy
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Maloy is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maloy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 27 people
- Benton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Benton is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 40 people
- Mortimer ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Mortimer is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mortimer
- Kent
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Kent is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
- Platteville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Platteville is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platteville
- Blockton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Blockton is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blockton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
- Delphos
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Delphos is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delphos
- Estimated population in 2019: 24 people
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Gravity
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Gravity is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravity
- Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
- Shannon City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Shannon City is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shannon City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 69 people
- Redding
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Redding is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redding
- Population from the 2020 Census: 77 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Clearfield. See our List of 1890's Communities around Clearfield.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Clearfield ...
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 87 newspapers that have been published in the area around Clearfield.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Clearfield. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Clearfield and those printed in the larger area surrounding Clearfield.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Clearfield.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Clearfield:
- Websites specific to Iowa
- Pages specific to Taylor County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Adair County
- Adams County
- Cass County
- Clarke County
- Decatur County
- Montgomery County
- Page County
- Ringgold County
- Union County
- Harrison County
- Nodaway County
- Worth County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Iowa
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Clearfield, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Clearfield) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |