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 Westphalia (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 Westphalia. 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.
Westphalia 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 Westphalia. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Westphalia:
- Shelby County (The home county of Westphalia)
- The following are listed by their distance from Westphalia, with the one closest to Westphalia listed first.
- Earling
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Earling is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earling
- Population from the 2020 Census: 403 people
- Panama
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Harlan
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Kirkman
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Kirkman is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkman
- Population from the 2020 Census: 61 people
- Defiance
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Defiance is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Defiance
- Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
- Portsmouth
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Tennant
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Tennant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tennant
- Population from the 2020 Census: 63 people
- Irwin
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Corley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Corley is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corley
- Shelby
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Botna
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Botna is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Botna
- Elk Horn
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Audubon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Westphalia, with the one closest to Westphalia listed first.
- Fiscus
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Fiscus is located in Audubon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fiscus
- Kimballton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Gray
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Audubon
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Ross
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Ross is located in Audubon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ross
- Hamlin
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Hamlin is located in Audubon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlin
- Exira
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Brayton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Carroll County
- The following are listed by their distance from Westphalia, with the one closest to Westphalia listed first.
- Manning
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Templeton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Halbur
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Halbur is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halbur
- Population from the 2020 Census: 252 people
- Cass County
- The following are listed by their distance from Westphalia, with the one closest to Westphalia listed first.
- Marne
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Atlantic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Sycamore Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Sycamore Village is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Village
- Crawford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Westphalia, with the one closest to Westphalia listed first.
- Astor
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Astor is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Astor
- 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
- Manilla
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Dow City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Arion
(16 miles [25.7 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
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Bell is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell
- Aspinwall
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Aspinwall is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aspinwall
- Population from the 2020 Census: 40 people
- 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)
- Kenwood
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Kenwood is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenwood
- Vail
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Charter Oak
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Harrison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Westphalia, with the one closest to Westphalia listed first.
- Persia
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Persia is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Persia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
- Dunlap
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Yorkshire
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Yorkshire is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkshire
- Woodbine
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Logan
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Magnolia
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Magnolia is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 170 people
- Missouri Valley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Pisgah
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Orson
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Orson is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orson
- Monona County
- The following are listed by their distance from Westphalia, with the one closest to Westphalia listed first.
- Moorhead
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Soldier
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Ute
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Pottawattamie County
- The following are listed by their distance from Westphalia, with the one closest to Westphalia listed first.
- Harlan Junction ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Harlan Junction is located in Pottawattamie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harlan Junction
- Avoca
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- 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>
- Walnut
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Walnut is located in Pottawattamie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut
- Population from the 2020 Census: 768 people
- Minden
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Neola
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hancock
(22 miles [35.4 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
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Pigeon is located in Pottawattamie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pigeon
- Underwood
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Oakland
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Loveland
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Loveland is located in Pottawattamie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loveland
- McClelland
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Westphalia, see our County-by-County Page for Westphalia.
Cemeteries Near Westphalia ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Westphalia.
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 Westphalia - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Westphalia covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Westphalia, with the one closest to Westphalia listed first.
- St. Boniface Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Washington Twp. Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Lincoln Twp. Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Harlan Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Rabbit Hallow Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Rose Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Slates Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- St. Pauls Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Union Twp. Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (153 more) ...
- Cass Twp. Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Doyle Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Fairview Twp. Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
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 Westphalia had a population of 60 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Westphalia had a population of 117 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Westphalia, with the one closest to Westphalia listed first.
- Panama
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Harlan
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Kirkman
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Kirkman is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkman
- Population from the 2020 Census: 61 people
- Defiance
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Defiance is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Defiance
- Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
- Portsmouth
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Corley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Corley is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corley
- Irwin
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Manteno
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Manteno is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manteno
- Astor
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Astor is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Astor
- 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
- Persia
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Persia is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Persia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
- Shelby
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Manilla
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Dunlap
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Harlan Junction ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Harlan Junction is located in Pottawattamie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harlan Junction
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Westphalia. See our List of 1890's Communities around Westphalia.
Newspapers Published in Westphalia ...
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 26 newspapers that have been published in the area around Westphalia.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Westphalia, 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 Westphalia.
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 Westphalia:
- Websites specific to Iowa
- Pages specific to Shelby County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Audubon County
- Carroll County
- Cass County
- Crawford County
- Harrison County
- Monona County
- Pottawattamie 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> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Westphalia) 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 Westphalia, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |