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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 Hartley (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 Hartley. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and 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.

Hartley is located in O'Brien 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 O'Brien County: Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, Lyon, Osceola, Plymouth & Sioux.

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

  • O'Brien County     (The home county of Hartley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hartley, with the one closest to Hartley listed first.
    • Moneta
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Moneta is located in O'Brien County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moneta
    • Primghar
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Sanborn
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Sutherland
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Archer
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Calumet
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Calumet is located in O'Brien County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calumet
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
    • Paullina
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Paullina is located in O'Brien County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paullina
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 965 people
    • Sheldon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Germantown
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Buena Vista County
  • Cherokee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hartley, with the one closest to Hartley listed first.
    • Larrabee
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Meriden
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Cleghorn
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Cleghorn is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleghorn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 214 people
    • Marcus
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Cherokee
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hartley, with the one closest to Hartley listed first.
    • Everly
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Everly is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 541 people
    • Royal
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Fostoria
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Spencer
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Rossie
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Rossie is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
    • Langdon
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Peterson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Greenville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Dickens
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Cornell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Gillett Grove
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Webb
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Dickinson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hartley, with the one closest to Hartley listed first.
    • Old Town
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Old Town is located in Dickinson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
    • Milford
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • West Okoboji
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • West Okoboji is located in Dickinson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Okoboji
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
    • Lake Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Wahpeton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Wahpeton is located in Dickinson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahpeton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 353 people
    • Arnolds Park
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Okoboji
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Spirit Lake
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Terril
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Orleans
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Orleans is located in Dickinson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 591 people
  • Lyon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hartley, with the one closest to Hartley listed first.
    • Little Rock
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • George
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Osceola County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hartley, with the one closest to Hartley listed first.
    • May City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Melvin
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Melvin is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 197 people
    • Cloverdale
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Ocheyedan
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Harris
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Allendorf
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Ashton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Sibley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Palo Alto County
  • Sioux County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hartley, with the one closest to Hartley listed first.
    • Hospers
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Matlock
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Granville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Granville is located in Sioux County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
    • Boyden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Alton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Middleburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Jackson County (MN)
  • Nobles County (MN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hartley, with the one closest to Hartley listed first.
    • Round Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Bigelow
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Bigelow is located in Nobles County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bigelow
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 226 people
    • Org
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Ransom
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Hartley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hartley.

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 Hartley - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Hartley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Hartley, with the one closest to Hartley 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Hartley had a population of 519 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Hartley had a population of 1,556 people.

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

  • Everly
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Everly is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everly
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 541 people
  • Primghar
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • May City
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Sanborn
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Gaza
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Gaza is located in O'Brien County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaza
  • Archer
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Sutherland
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Ocheyedan
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Calumet
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Calumet is located in O'Brien County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calumet
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
  • Spencer
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Paullina
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Paullina is located in O'Brien County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paullina
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 965 people
  • Ritter
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Ritter is located in O'Brien County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ritter
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Harris
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Ashton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Sheldon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Hartley ...

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 121 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hartley.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Hartley. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Hartley and those printed in the larger area surrounding Hartley.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Hartley.

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 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 Hartley:

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 Hartley, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Hartley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.