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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 Panama (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 Panama. 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 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.

Panama is located in Shelby 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 Shelby County: Audubon, Carroll, Cass, Crawford, Harrison & Pottawattamie.

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

  • Shelby County     (The home county of Panama)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Panama, with the one closest to Panama listed first.
    • Westphalia
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Westphalia is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westphalia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 117 people
    • Earling
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Earling is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earling
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 403 people
    • Portsmouth
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Defiance
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Defiance is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Defiance
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
    • Tennant
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Harlan
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Kirkman
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Kirkman is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 61 people
    • Corley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Irwin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Shelby
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Botna
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Elk Horn
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
  • Audubon County
  • Carroll County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Panama, with the one closest to Panama listed first.
    • Manning
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Templeton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Cass County
  • Crawford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Panama, with the one closest to Panama listed first.
    • Buck Grove
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Buck Grove is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 43 people
    • Dow City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Astor
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Astor is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Astor
    • Arion
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Arion is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arion
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 107 people
    • Bell
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Bell is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell
    • Manilla
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Kenwood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Sunset Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Sunset Village is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Village
    • Denison
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Aspinwall
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Charter Oak
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Deloit
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Deloit is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deloit
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 254 people
    • Vail
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Vail is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vail
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 413 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vail <1>
  • Harrison County
  • Monona County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Panama, with the one closest to Panama listed first.
    • Moorhead
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Soldier
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Ute
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Ute is located in Monona County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ute
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 337 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ute <1>
  • Pottawattamie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Panama, with the one closest to Panama listed first.
    • Harlan Junction ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Harlan Junction is located in Pottawattamie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harlan Junction
    • Minden
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Minden is located in Pottawattamie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 597 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Minden <1>
    • Avoca
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Avoca is located in Pottawattamie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,537 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Avoca <1>
    • Neola
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Walnut
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Walnut is located in Pottawattamie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 768 people
    • Hancock
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Hancock is located in Pottawattamie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 196 people
    • Pigeon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Underwood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Loveland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Loveland is located in Pottawattamie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loveland
    • Honey Creek
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Honey Creek is located in Pottawattamie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Creek
    • McClelland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Oakland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Weston
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Panama ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Panama.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Panama, with the one closest to Panama 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Panama had a population of 379 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Panama had a population of 206 people.

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

  • Westphalia
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Westphalia is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westphalia
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 117 people
  • Portsmouth
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Manteno
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Manteno is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manteno
  • Harlan
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Defiance
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Defiance is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Defiance
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
  • Kirkman
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Kirkman is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkman
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 61 people
  • Dunlap
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Persia
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Persia is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Persia
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
  • Woodbine
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Corley
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Buck Grove
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Buck Grove is located in Crawford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck Grove
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 43 people
  • Dow City
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Irwin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Astor
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Astor is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Astor
    • Union Burg ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Union Burg is located in Harrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Burg

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

Newspapers Published in Panama ...

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 81 newspapers that have been published in the area around Panama.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Panama, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Panama.

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 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 Panama:

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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Panama) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Panama, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.