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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 Harris City (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 Harris City. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Harris City is located in Decatur County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Decatur County: Bartholomew, Franklin, Jennings, Ripley, Rush & Shelby.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Harris City ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Harris City.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Harris City, with the one closest to Harris City listed first.

  • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Columbia Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Columbia Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Columbia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Burks Chapel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Burks Chapel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Burks Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Antioch Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Antioch Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Antioch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Patrick Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Patrick Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Patrick Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Aerie Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Sand Creek Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sand Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sand Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • South Park Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Mowery Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mowery Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mowery Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Finley Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Finley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Finley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mapleton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (346 more) ...
    • Rodney Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Forsythe Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forsythe Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forsythe Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Mt. Pisgah Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Pisgah Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Pisgah Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Harris City had a population of 46 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Horace
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Horace have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horace
    • Horace is located in Decatur County
  • Gaynorsville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gaynorsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaynorsville
    • Gaynorsville is located in Decatur County
  • Letts Corner
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Forest Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Hill
    • Forest Hill is located in Decatur County
  • Ewington
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ewington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ewington
    • Ewington is located in Decatur County
  • Greensburg
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greensburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greensburg
    • Greensburg is located in Decatur County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,984 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greensburg <2>
  • Millhousen
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • McCoy
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McCoy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCoy
    • McCoy is located in Decatur County
  • Burney
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Westport
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Adams
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Adams. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams
    • Adams is located in Decatur County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Adams
    • From Harris City to Adams
  • Smyrna
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Smyrna. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smyrna
    • Smyrna is located in Decatur County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Smyrna
    • From Harris City to Smyrna
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Waynesburg
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waynesburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waynesburg
      • Waynesburg is located in Decatur County
    • Smiths Crossing
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smiths Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smiths Crossing
      • Smiths Crossing is located in Decatur County
    • Harper
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Harper. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harper
      • Harper is located in Decatur County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Harper
      • From Harris City to Harper

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

Newspapers Published in Harris City ...

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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Harris City.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Harris City, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Harris City.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Harris City:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Harris City. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Decatur County: www.decaturcounty.in.gov/

The official website for State of Indiana: https://www.in.gov

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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.
<5>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 from Point A (ie- Harris City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Harris City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2774, Longitude: -85.5246       In this case, the coordinates for Harris City have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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 Harris City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 21 Apr 2025