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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 Menlo (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 Menlo. 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 and doctors 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.

Menlo is located in Guthrie 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 Guthrie County: Adair, Audubon, Carroll, Cass, Dallas, Greene & Madison.

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

  • Guthrie County     (The home county of Menlo)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Menlo, with the one closest to Menlo listed first.
    • Stuart
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stuart have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stuart
      • Stuart is located in Guthrie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,756 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stuart <2>
    • Glendon
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Glendon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendon
      • Glendon is located in Guthrie County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Glendon
      • From Menlo to Glendon
    • Dale
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Casey
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Casey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casey
      • Casey is located in Guthrie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 402 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Casey <2>
    • Panora
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Guthrie Center
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guthrie Center have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guthrie Center
      • Guthrie Center is located in Guthrie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,487 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Guthrie Center <2>
    • Adair
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Adair have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adair
      • Adair is located in Guthrie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 701 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Adair <2>
    • Yale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • North Branch
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Bagley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bagley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bagley
      • Bagley is located in Guthrie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 285 people
    • Herndon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Jamaica
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Bayard
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
  • Adair County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Menlo, with the one closest to Menlo listed first.
    • Arbor Hill
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Arbor Hill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbor Hill
      • Arbor Hill is located in Adair County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Arbor Hill
      • From Menlo to Arbor Hill
    • Greenfield
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Stanzel
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Fontanelle
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Hebron
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hebron have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
      • Hebron is located in Adair County
    • Orient
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Zion
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Bridgewater
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Gilead
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gilead. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilead
      • Gilead is located in Adair County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Gilead
      • From Menlo to Gilead
  • Adams County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Menlo, with the one closest to Menlo listed first.
    • Williamson
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Williamson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamson
      • Williamson is located in Adams County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Williamson
      • From Menlo to Williamson
    • Carl
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Carl. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carl
      • Carl is located in Adams County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Carl
      • From Menlo to Carl
  • Audubon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Menlo, with the one closest to Menlo listed first.
    • Exira
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Exira have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exira
      • Exira is located in Audubon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 775 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Exira <2>
    • Brayton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Hamlin
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hamlin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlin
      • Hamlin is located in Audubon County
    • Audubon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Carroll County
    • Coon Rapids
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coon Rapids have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coon Rapids
      • Coon Rapids is located in Carroll County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,221 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coon Rapids <2>
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Menlo, with the one closest to Menlo listed first.
    • Anita
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Anita have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anita
      • Anita is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 898 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Anita <2>
    • Massena
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Wiota
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wiota have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wiota
      • Wiota is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 107 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wiota <2>
    • Norway Center
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Cumberland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Dewey
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Grove City ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grove City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove City
      • Grove City is located in Cass County
  • Dallas County
  • Greene County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Menlo, with the one closest to Menlo listed first.
    • Cooper
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cooper. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooper
      • Cooper is located in Greene County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cooper
      • From Menlo to Cooper
    • Rippey
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Menlo, with the one closest to Menlo listed first.
    • Earlham
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Earlham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earlham
      • Earlham is located in Madison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,409 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Earlham <2>
    • Pitzer
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pitzer. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pitzer
      • Pitzer is located in Madison County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pitzer
      • From Menlo to Pitzer
    • Webster
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Winterset
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Macksburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Ord
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ord. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ord
      • Ord is located in Madison County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ord
      • From Menlo to Ord
    • Patterson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Menlo ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Menlo.

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

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

  • Menlo Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Menlo Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Menlo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rosehill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rosehill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rosehill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Timber Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Timber Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Timber Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jefferson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • South Oak Grove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Oak Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Oak Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • North Oak Grove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Oak Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Oak Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Oakwood Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Glendon Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Glendon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Glendon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Quaker Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Quaker Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Quaker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Stanfield Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stanfield Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stanfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (207 more) ...
    • Loucks Grove Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Morrisburg Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Morrisburg Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Morrisburg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Monteith Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Monteith Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Monteith Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Menlo had a population of 389 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Menlo had a population of 347 people.

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

  • Stuart
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stuart have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stuart
    • Stuart is located in Guthrie County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,756 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stuart <2>
  • Glendon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Glendon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendon
    • Glendon is located in Guthrie County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Glendon
    • From Menlo to Glendon
  • Dale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Casey
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Casey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casey
    • Casey is located in Guthrie County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 402 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Casey <2>
  • Monteith
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monteith have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monteith
    • Monteith is located in Guthrie County
  • Dexter
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Linden
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Canby
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Canby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canby
    • Canby is located in Adair County
  • Arbor Hill
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Arbor Hill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbor Hill
    • Arbor Hill is located in Adair County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Arbor Hill
    • From Menlo to Arbor Hill
  • Guthrie Center
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guthrie Center have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guthrie Center
    • Guthrie Center is located in Guthrie County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,487 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Guthrie Center <2>
  • Redfield
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Panora
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Adair
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Adair have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adair
      • Adair is located in Guthrie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 701 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Adair <2>
    • Greenfield
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Pitzer
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pitzer. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pitzer
      • Pitzer is located in Madison County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pitzer
      • From Menlo to Pitzer

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Menlo ...

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 70 newspapers that have been published in the area around Menlo.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Menlo:

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

The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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- Menlo) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Menlo. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.5217, Longitude: -94.4045    
<5>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.
<6>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 Menlo, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025