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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 Cairo Junction (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 Cairo Junction. 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 Cairo Junction ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Cairo Junction: Cairo Jct. (or less commonly used: Cairo Jctn.)

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

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 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.

Cairo Junction is located in Alexander County.

To see how the shape of Illinois' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Alexander County: Pulaski, Union, Ballard (KY), Cape Girardeau (MO), Mississippi (MO) & Scott (MO).

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

  • Alexander County     (The home county of Cairo Junction)
  • Johnson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cairo Junction, with the one closest to Cairo Junction listed first.
    • Belknap
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Cypress
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Bender ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Bender is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bender
    • Vienna
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Massac County
  • Pulaski County
  • Union County
  • Ballard County (KY)
  • Carlisle County (KY)
  • Graves County (KY)
  • Hickman County (KY)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cairo Junction, with the one closest to Cairo Junction listed first.
    • Columbus
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Spring Hill
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Clinton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Clinton is located in Hickman County (KY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,244 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clinton <1>
  • McCracken County (KY)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cairo Junction, with the one closest to Cairo Junction listed first.
    • Cimota City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Cimota City is located in McCracken County (KY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cimota City
    • Woodville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Ragland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Future City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Future City is located in McCracken County (KY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Future City
    • West Future City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • West Future City is located in McCracken County (KY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Future City
    • Camelia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Grahamville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • West Paducah
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Massac
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Massac is located in McCracken County (KY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massac
    • Lone Oak
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Lone Oak is located in McCracken County (KY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Oak
  • Cape Girardeau County (MO)
  • Mississippi County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cairo Junction, with the one closest to Cairo Junction listed first.
    • Greenfield
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Greenfield is located in Mississippi County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
    • Wyatt
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Wyatt is located in Mississippi County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyatt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
    • Wilson City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Wilson City is located in Mississippi County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 110 people
    • Charleston
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Anniston
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Anniston is located in Mississippi County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anniston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 207 people
    • Bertrand
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Bertrand is located in Mississippi County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertrand
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 747 people
    • Thirtyfour Corner
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Whiting
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Wolf Island
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Wolf Island is located in Mississippi County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Island
    • East Prairie
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Pinhook
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Pinhook is located in Mississippi County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinhook
      • Estimated population in 2012: 30 people
  • New Madrid County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cairo Junction, with the one closest to Cairo Junction listed first.
    • Sikeston
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Matthews
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Matthews is located in New Madrid County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matthews
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 584 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Matthews <1>
    • Ogden
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Ogden is located in New Madrid County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogden
    • Morehouse
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Scott County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cairo Junction, with the one closest to Cairo Junction listed first.
    • Diehlstadt
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Diehlstadt is located in Scott County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diehlstadt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 152 people
    • Commerce
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Blodgett
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Blodgett is located in Scott County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blodgett
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 203 people
    • Benton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Benton is located in Scott County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 880 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Benton <1>
    • Lambert
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Lambert is located in Scott County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lambert
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 34 people
    • Miner
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Miner is located in Scott County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miner
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 939 people
    • Kelso
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Kelso is located in Scott County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelso
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 589 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kelso <1>
    • Scott City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Haywood City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Haywood City is located in Scott County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haywood City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 199 people
    • New Hamburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Morley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Morley is located in Scott County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 682 people
    • Oran
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Oran is located in Scott County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oran
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,211 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oran <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Cairo Junction ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cairo Junction.

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 Cairo Junction - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Cairo Junction, with the one closest to Cairo Junction 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>

While we didn't find Cairo Junction in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Cairo Junction.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Cairo Junction ...

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 113 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cairo Junction.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Cairo Junction, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Cairo Junction.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Cairo Junction:

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 Cairo Junction, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Cairo Junction) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.