RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Iowa >> O'Brien County >> Moneta >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Moneta (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 Moneta. 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 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 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.

Moneta 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 Moneta. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Moneta:

  • O'Brien County     (The home county of Moneta)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Moneta, with the one closest to Moneta listed first.
    • Hartley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Hartley is located in O'Brien County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,556 people
    • Primghar
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Sutherland
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Sanborn
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Calumet
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Calumet is located in O'Brien County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calumet
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
    • Archer
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Paullina
      (18 miles [29 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
    • Germantown
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Germantown is located in O'Brien County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germantown
    • Sheldon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • Buena Vista County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Moneta, with the one closest to Moneta listed first.
    • Linn Grove
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Sioux Rapids
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Elkton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Elkton is located in Buena Vista County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkton
    • Rembrandt
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Marathon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Marathon is located in Buena Vista County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marathon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
    • Truesdale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Cherokee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Moneta, with the one closest to Moneta listed first.
    • Larrabee
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Larrabee is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larrabee
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 130 people
    • Meriden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Meriden is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meriden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
    • Cherokee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Cleghorn
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Cleghorn is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleghorn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 214 people
    • Aurelia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Marcus
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Mary Hill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Mary Hill is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mary Hill
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Moneta, with the one closest to Moneta listed first.
    • Everly
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Everly is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 541 people
    • Royal
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Spencer
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Rossie
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Rossie is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
    • Fostoria
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Fostoria is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fostoria
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 219 people
    • Peterson
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Greenville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Langdon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Langdon is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langdon
    • Cornell
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Cornell is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornell
    • Dickens
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Dickens is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickens
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
    • Gillett Grove
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Gillett Grove is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gillett Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 47 people
    • Webb
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Webb is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webb
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
  • Dickinson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Moneta, with the one closest to Moneta listed first.
    • Old Town
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Old Town is located in Dickinson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
    • Milford
      (18 miles [29 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
    • 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)
    • Lake Park
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Spirit Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Terril
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Terril is located in Dickinson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terril
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 338 people
    • 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
    • Superior
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Osceola County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Moneta, with the one closest to Moneta listed first.
    • May City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • May City is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May City
    • Melvin
      (15 miles [24.1 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
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Cloverdale is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
    • Harris
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Harris is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 158 people
    • Ocheyedan
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Ocheyedan is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocheyedan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 463 people
    • Allendorf
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Allendorf is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allendorf
    • Ashton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Sibley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Palo Alto County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Moneta, with the one closest to Moneta listed first.
    • Ruthven
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Ayrshire
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Sioux County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Moneta, with the one closest to Moneta listed first.
    • Granville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Granville is located in Sioux County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
    • Hospers
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Matlock
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Jackson County (MN)
    • Sioux Valley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Sioux Valley is located in Jackson County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sioux Valley
  • Nobles County (MN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Moneta, with the one closest to Moneta listed first.
    • Round Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Bigelow
      (30 miles [48.3 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

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

Cemeteries Near Moneta ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Moneta.

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

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

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

  • Lone Tree Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • TriMello Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Pleasant View Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Grant Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Center Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Randolph Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Steuck Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Center Twp. Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Doyle Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Bethlehem Lutheran Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Willow Creek Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • First Reformed Church Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (110 more) ...
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Lincoln Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Riverside Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)

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 Moneta in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Moneta.

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

  • Everly
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Everly is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everly
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 541 people
  • Hartley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hartley is located in O'Brien County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartley
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,556 people
  • Primghar
    (11 miles [17.7 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
  • Sutherland
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Spencer
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • May City
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • May City is located in Osceola County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May City
  • Sanborn
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Peterson
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Greenville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Calumet
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Calumet is located in O'Brien County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calumet
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
  • Archer
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Paullina
      (18 miles [29 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
    • Linn Grove
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Dickens
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Dickens is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickens
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people

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

Newspapers Published in Moneta ...

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 111 newspapers that have been published in the area around Moneta.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Moneta, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Moneta.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Moneta:

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 Moneta, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Moneta) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.