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 Thebes (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 Thebes. 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.
Thebes 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 Thebes. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Thebes:
- Alexander County (The home county of Thebes)
- The following are listed by their distance from Thebes, with the one closest to Thebes listed first.
- East Cape Girardeau
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- East Cape Girardeau is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cape Girardeau
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
- Olive Branch
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Diswood
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Diswood is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diswood
- McClure
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Miller City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Hodges Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Hodges Park is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodges Park
- Tamms
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Unity
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Elco
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Cache
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Frog City ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Frog City is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frog City
- Cairo Junction
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Cairo Junction is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo Junction
- Future City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Future City is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Future City
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thebes, with the one closest to Thebes listed first.
- Grand Tower
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Pomona
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Makanda
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Johnson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thebes, with the one closest to Thebes listed first.
- Cypress
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Belknap
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Pulaski County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thebes, with the one closest to Thebes listed first.
- Pulaski
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Villa Ridge
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Villa Ridge is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa Ridge
- Ullin
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Mounds
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Mounds is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mounds
- Population from the 2020 Census: 666 people
- Mound City
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Olmsted
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Perks
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Grand Chain
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- New Grand Chain
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- New Grand Chain is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Grand Chain
- Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
- Karnak
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Union County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thebes, with the one closest to Thebes listed first.
- Reynoldsville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Reynoldsville is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynoldsville
- Mill Creek
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Mill Creek is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Creek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
- Dutch Mills
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Dutch Mills is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutch Mills
- Dongola
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Jonesboro
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Wolf Lake
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Anna
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Cobden
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Alto Pass
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Mount Pleasant
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Pleasant is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Water Valley
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Water Valley is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Water Valley
- Lick Creek
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lick Creek is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lick Creek
- Ballard County (KY)
- The following are listed by their distance from Thebes, with the one closest to Thebes listed first.
- Barlow
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Barlow is located in Ballard County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barlow
- Population from the 2020 Census: 628 people
- Wickliffe
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- La Center
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Bandana
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Bandana is located in Ballard County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bandana
- Bollinger County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Thebes, with the one closest to Thebes listed first.
- Laflin
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Laflin is located in Bollinger County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laflin
- Leopold
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Leopold is located in Bollinger County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leopold
- Seopus
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Seopus is located in Bollinger County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seopus
- Lutesville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Lutesville is located in Bollinger County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lutesville
- Marble Hill
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Thebes, with the one closest to Thebes listed first.
- Cape Girardeau
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Dutchtown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Dutchtown is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutchtown
- Estimated population in 2018: 94 people
- Gordonville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Jackson
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Jackson is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,699 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jackson <1>
- Delta
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Delta is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 421 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Delta <1>
- Allenville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Allenville is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allenville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 118 people
- Cliff ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Cliff is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliff
- Leemon
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Leemon is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leemon
- Randles
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Randles is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randles
- Whitewater
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Whitewater is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitewater
- Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
- Crump
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Crump is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crump
- Green Cox
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Green Cox is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Cox
- Burfordville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Mississippi County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Thebes, with the one closest to Thebes listed first.
- Bertrand
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Bertrand is located in Mississippi County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertrand
- Population from the 2020 Census: 747 people
- Charleston
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Charleston is located in Mississippi County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charleston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,015 people
- Greenfield
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Greenfield is located in Mississippi County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
- Wilson City
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Wilson City is located in Mississippi County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 110 people
- Wyatt
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Wyatt is located in Mississippi County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyatt
- Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
- Anniston
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Anniston is located in Mississippi County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anniston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 207 people
- Whiting
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Whiting is located in Mississippi County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiting
- East Prairie
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- New Madrid County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Thebes, with the one closest to Thebes listed first.
- Sikeston
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Morehouse
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Morehouse is located in New Madrid County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morehouse
- Population from the 2020 Census: 844 people
- Perry County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Thebes, with the one closest to Thebes listed first.
- Altenburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Frohna
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Frohna is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frohna
- Population from the 2020 Census: 241 people
- Scott County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Thebes, with the one closest to Thebes listed first.
- Commerce
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Scott City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Kelso
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Benton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Lambert
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Lambert is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lambert
- Population from the 2010 Census: 34 people
- New Hamburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- New Hamburg is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hamburg
- Chaffee
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Blodgett
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Blodgett is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blodgett
- Population from the 2020 Census: 203 people
- Caney Creek
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Caney Creek is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney Creek
- Morley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Morley is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 682 people
- Oran
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- 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>
- Haywood City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Haywood City is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haywood City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 199 people
- Diehlstadt
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Diehlstadt is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diehlstadt
- Population from the 2020 Census: 152 people
- Stoddard County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Thebes, with the one closest to Thebes listed first.
- Painton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Painton is located in Stoddard County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Painton
- Bell City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Bell City is located in Stoddard County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 422 people
- Tillman
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Tillman is located in Stoddard County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tillman
- Advance
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Guam ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Guam is located in Stoddard County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guam
- Brownwood
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Brownwood is located in Stoddard County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownwood
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Thebes, see our County-by-County Page for Thebes.
Cemeteries Near Thebes ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Thebes.
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 Thebes - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Thebes covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Thebes, with the one closest to Thebes listed first.
- Bracken Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Rose Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Garner Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Hobbs Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Grays Point Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Brown Homestead Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Miller Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Hutchison Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Bonhardt Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Lightner Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Spradlin Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (340 more) ...
- Sanders Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Anderson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Thompson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 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.<2>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Thebes had a population of 175 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Thebes had a population of 303 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Thebes, with the one closest to Thebes listed first.
- Commerce
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Kelso
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- East Cape Girardeau
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- East Cape Girardeau is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cape Girardeau
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
- Olive Branch
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- McClure
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Cape Girardeau
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- New Hamburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- New Hamburg is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hamburg
- Benton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Willard
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Willard is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willard
- Unity
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Hodges Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Hodges Park is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodges Park
- Sandusky
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Sandusky is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandusky
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Dutchtown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Dutchtown is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutchtown
- Estimated population in 2018: 94 people
- Elco
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Pulaski
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Thebes. See our List of 1890's Communities around Thebes.
Newspapers Published in Thebes ...
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 83 newspapers that have been published in the area around Thebes.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Thebes, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Thebes.
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 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 Thebes:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Alexander County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Jackson County
- Johnson County
- Pulaski County
- Union County
- Ballard County
- Bollinger County
- Cape Girardeau County
- Mississippi County
- New Madrid County
- Perry County
- Scott County
- Stoddard County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Illinois
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> | 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 Thebes, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 from Point A (ie- Thebes) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |