RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Iowa >> Montgomery County >> Red Oak >> 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 Red Oak (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 Red Oak. 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 Red Oak ...

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.

Another variation: Redoak.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Red Oak. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Red Oak.

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 southwest 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 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.

Red Oak is located in Montgomery 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 Montgomery County: Adams, Cass, Fremont, Mills, Page, Pottawattamie & Taylor.

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

  • Montgomery County     (The home county of Red Oak)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Red Oak, with the one closest to Red Oak listed first.
    • Stanton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Coburg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Coburg is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 39 people
    • Elliott
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Sciola
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Tenville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Clarinda Junction ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Clarinda Junction is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarinda Junction
    • Villisca
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Grant
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Grant is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
  • Adams County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Red Oak, with the one closest to Red Oak listed first.
    • Nodaway
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Nodaway is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nodaway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
    • Strand
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Lincoln Center
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Lincoln Center is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Center
    • Carbon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Brooks
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Quincy
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Quincy is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quincy
    • Iveyville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Corning
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Mount Etna
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Mount Etna is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Etna
    • Queen City ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Queen City is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen City
    • Carl
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Mercer
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Cass County
  • Fremont County
  • Mills County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Red Oak, with the one closest to Red Oak listed first.
    • Emerson
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Henderson
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Hastings
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Hastings is located in Mills County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hastings
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
    • Clark
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Clark is located in Mills County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clark
    • Malvern
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Silver City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Mineola
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Glenwood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Mills
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Pacific City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Pacific City is located in Mills County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacific City
    • Pacific Junction
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Page County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Red Oak, with the one closest to Red Oak listed first.
    • Nyman
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Essex
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Hepburn
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Hepburn is located in Page County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hepburn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17 people
    • Tarkio City ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Tarkio City is located in Page County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarkio City
    • Yorktown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Yorktown is located in Page County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorktown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 83 people
    • Shenandoah
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Clarinda
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hawleyville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Hawleyville is located in Page County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawleyville
    • Coin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Shambaugh
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • College Springs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • College Springs is located in Page County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Springs
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 204 people
    • Northboro
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Pottawattamie County
  • Taylor County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Red Oak, with the one closest to Red Oak listed first.
    • Guss
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • New Market
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Ladoga
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Gravity
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Red Oak ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Red Oak.

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 Red Oak - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Red Oak, with the one closest to Red Oak 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 Red Oak had a population of 3,321 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Red Oak had a population of 5,271 people.

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

  • Stennett
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Stennett is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stennett
  • Stanton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Hawthorne
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Hawthorne is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawthorne
  • Coburg
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Coburg is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coburg
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 39 people
  • Wales
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Wales is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wales
  • Nyman
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Elliott
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Emerson
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Clarinda Junction ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Clarinda Junction is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarinda Junction
  • Sciola
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Solomon
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Solomon is located in Mills County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solomon
  • Essex
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Red Oak ...

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 64 newspapers that have been published in the area around Red Oak.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 professional and volunteer 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 Red Oak:

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