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 Merle Junction (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 Merle Junction. 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.
Name Variations for Merle Junction ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Merle Junction: Merle Jct. (or less commonly used: Merle Jctn.)
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
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.
Merle Junction is located in Taylor 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 Merle Junction. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Merle Junction:
- Taylor County (The home county of Merle Junction)
- The following are listed by their distance from Merle Junction, with the one closest to Merle Junction listed first.
- Sharpsburg
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Sharpsburg is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharpsburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
- Conway
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Conway is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 40 people
- Clearfield
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Lenox
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Gravity
(8 miles [12.9 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
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Ladoga
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Ladoga is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladoga
- Blockton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Blockton is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blockton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
- Athelstan
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Athelstan is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athelstan
- Guss
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Guss is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guss
- New Market
(16 miles [25.7 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
(18 miles [29 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 Merle Junction, with the one closest to Merle Junction 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
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Adams County
- The following are listed by their distance from Merle Junction, with the one closest to Merle Junction listed first.
- Mercer
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Mercer is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercer
- Stringtown
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Stringtown is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
- Iveyville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Iveyville is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iveyville
- Prescott
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Queen City ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Queen City is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen City
- Brooks
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Brooks is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks
- Corning
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Nodaway
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Nodaway is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nodaway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
- Quincy
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Quincy is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quincy
- Carbon
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Carbon is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 31 people
- Carl
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Carl is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carl
- Mount Etna
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Mount Etna is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Etna
- Cass County
- Dewey
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Dewey is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewey
- Montgomery County
- The following are listed by their distance from Merle Junction, with the one closest to Merle Junction listed first.
- Villisca
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Clarinda Junction ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Clarinda Junction is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarinda Junction
- Sciola
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Sciola is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sciola
- Tenville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Tenville is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenville
- Stanton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Page County
- The following are listed by their distance from Merle Junction, with the one closest to Merle Junction listed first.
- Hawleyville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Hawleyville is located in Page County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawleyville
- Hepburn
(22 miles [35.4 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
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Shambaugh
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Shambaugh is located in Page County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shambaugh
- Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
- Braddyville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- College Springs
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- College Springs is located in Page County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Springs
- Population from the 2020 Census: 204 people
- Yorktown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Yorktown is located in Page County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorktown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 83 people
- Ringgold County
- The following are listed by their distance from Merle Junction, with the one closest to Merle Junction listed first.
- Maloy
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Maloy is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maloy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 27 people
- Diagonal
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Knowlton ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Knowlton is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowlton
- Benton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Benton is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 40 people
- Delphos
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Delphos is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delphos
- Estimated population in 2019: 24 people
- Redding
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Redding is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redding
- Population from the 2020 Census: 77 people
- Mount Ayr
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Tingley
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Ellston
(25 miles [40.2 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
(28 miles [45.1 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
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Union County
- The following are listed by their distance from Merle Junction, with the one closest to Merle Junction listed first.
- Kent
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Kent is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
- Cromwell
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Cromwell is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cromwell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 105 people
- Shannon City
(19 miles [30.6 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
- Arispe
(22 miles [35.4 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
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- East Creston
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- East Creston is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Creston
- Afton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Harrison County (MO)
- Hatfield
(28 miles [45.1 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 Merle Junction, with the one closest to Merle Junction listed first.
- Hopkins
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Gaynor
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Gaynor is located in Nodaway County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaynor
- Parnell
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Orrsburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Orrsburg is located in Nodaway County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orrsburg
- Pickering
(26 miles [41.8 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
- Ravenwood
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Ravenwood is located in Nodaway County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 394 people
- Clearmont
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Worth County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Merle Junction, with the one closest to Merle Junction listed first.
- Sheridan
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Irena
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Irena is located in Worth County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irena
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16 people
- Grant City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Oxford
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Oxford is located in Worth County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxford
- Allendale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- 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
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- 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 Merle Junction, see our County-by-County Page for Merle Junction.
Cemeteries Near Merle Junction ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Merle Junction.
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 Merle Junction - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Merle Junction covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Merle Junction, with the one closest to Merle Junction listed first.
- Conway Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Tando - Winslow Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Taylor County Farm Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Blue Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Lexington Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bower Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- East Fairview Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- West Fairview Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Fairview Cemetery
- The West Fairview Cemetery has also been known as:
- Fairview Cemetery
- Clearfield Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- North Fairview Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Fairview Cemetery
- The North Fairview Cemetery has also been known as:
- North Fairview Cemetery
- Gravity Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Continue List (231 more) ...
- Washington Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Holt Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Ladoga Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
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>
While we didn't find Merle Junction in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Merle Junction.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Merle Junction, with the one closest to Merle Junction listed first.
- Conway
(2 miles [3.2 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
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Sharpsburg is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharpsburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
- Clearfield
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Lenox
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Gravity
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Gravity is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravity
- Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
- Platteville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Platteville is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platteville
- Ladoga
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Ladoga is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladoga
- Bedford
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Holt
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Holt is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt
- Blockton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Blockton is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blockton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
- Maloy
(12 miles [19.3 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
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Benton is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 40 people
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Diagonal
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Knowlton ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Knowlton is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowlton
- Kent
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Kent is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Merle Junction. See our List of 1890's Communities around Merle Junction.
Newspapers Published in Merle Junction ...
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 79 newspapers that have been published in the area around Merle Junction.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Merle Junction, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Merle Junction.
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 Merle Junction:
- Websites specific to Iowa
- Pages specific to Taylor County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Adair County
- Adams County
- Cass 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 Merle Junction, 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- Merle Junction) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |