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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 Orange City (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 Orange City. 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.

A Few Details for Orange City ...

While it's still very early in our research, we found that:

  • Orange City was founded in 1870.
  • It was incorporated in 1884.

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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Orange City is located in Sioux County and is the County Seat.

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 Sioux County: Lyon, O'Brien, Plymouth, Lincoln (SD) & Union (SD).

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

  • Sioux County     (The home county of Orange City)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orange City, with the one closest to Orange City listed first.
    • Alton
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Maurice
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Maurice is located in Sioux County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maurice
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
    • Middleburg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Sioux Center
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Westbrook Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Westbrook Village is located in Sioux County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westbrook Village
    • Granville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Granville is located in Sioux County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
    • Hospers
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Boyden
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Hull
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Hull is located in Sioux County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hull
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,296 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hull <1>
    • Ireton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Perkins
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Lebanon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Matlock
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Cherokee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orange City, with the one closest to Orange City listed first.
    • Marcus
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Cleghorn
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Cleghorn is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleghorn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 214 people
    • Meriden
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Mary Hill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Larrabee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Fielding
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Lyon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orange City, with the one closest to Orange City listed first.
    • Doon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • George
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Edna
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Alvord
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Inwood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Rock Rapids
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • O'Brien County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orange City, with the one closest to Orange City listed first.
    • Germantown
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Sheldon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Archer
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Paullina
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Paullina is located in O'Brien County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paullina
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 965 people
    • Primghar
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Sanborn
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Calumet
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Calumet is located in O'Brien County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calumet
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
    • Sutherland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Osceola County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orange City, with the one closest to Orange City listed first.
    • Ashton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Melvin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Melvin is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 197 people
    • Cloverdale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Plymouth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orange City, with the one closest to Orange City listed first.
    • Struble
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Struble is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Struble
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 77 people
    • Oyens
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Oyens is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oyens
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
    • Remsen
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Craig
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Craig is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craig
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 91 people
    • Le Mars
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Brunsville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Brunsville is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brunsville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 152 people
    • O'Leary
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Merrill
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Adaville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Akron
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Hinton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Kingsley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Millnerville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Lincoln County (SD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orange City, with the one closest to Orange City listed first.
    • Hudson
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Hudson is located in Lincoln County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 356 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hudson <1>
    • Fairview
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Moe
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Union County (SD)

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

Cemeteries Near Orange City ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Orange City.

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 Orange City - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Orange City, with the one closest to Orange City 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 Orange City had a population of 1,216 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Orange City had a population of 6,260 people.

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

  • Alton
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Carnes
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Carnes is located in Sioux County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carnes
  • Newkirk
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Newkirk is located in Sioux County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newkirk
  • Maurice
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Maurice is located in Sioux County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maurice
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
  • Sioux Center
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Middleburg
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Granville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Granville is located in Sioux County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
  • Hospers
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Struble
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Struble is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Struble
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 77 people
  • Seney
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Seney is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seney
  • Oyens
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Oyens is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oyens
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
  • Hull
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Hull is located in Sioux County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hull
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,296 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hull <1>
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Orange City ...

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 114 newspapers that have been published in the area around Orange City.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Orange City. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Orange City and those printed in the larger area surrounding Orange City.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4> of Orange City.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Orange City:

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 Orange City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Orange City) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.