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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Achilles (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 Achilles. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Achilles is located in Rawlins County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Rawlins County: Cheyenne, Decatur, Sherman, Thomas, Dundy (NE), Hitchcock (NE) & Red Willow (NE).

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

  • Rawlins County     (The home county of Achilles)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Achilles, with the one closest to Achilles listed first.
    • Ludell
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Ludell is located in Rawlins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludell
    • Atwood
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Herndon
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Herndon is located in Rawlins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herndon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
    • Beardsley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Beardsley is located in Rawlins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beardsley
    • McDonald
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • McDonald is located in Rawlins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDonald
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
  • Decatur County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Achilles, with the one closest to Achilles listed first.
    • Oberlin
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Traer
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Traer is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Traer
    • Leoville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Leoville is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leoville
    • Dresden
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Kanona
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Kanona is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanona
    • Jennings
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jennings is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennings
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 90 people
  • Sheridan County
    • Selden
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Selden is located in Sheridan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 211 people
  • Thomas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Achilles, with the one closest to Achilles listed first.
    • Rexford
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Gem
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Gem is located in Thomas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gem
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
    • Menlo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Menlo is located in Thomas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menlo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 58 people
    • Colby
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Levant
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Levant is located in Thomas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Levant

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

Cemeteries Near Achilles ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Achilles.

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 Achilles - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Achilles Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Bassettville Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Lone Star Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Patrick Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Swedish Lutheran Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Swedish Baptist Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Covenant Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Hawkeye Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Rose Hill Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Chardon Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Cumberland Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Hamper Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (45 more) ...
    • Lund Church Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Immanuel Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Mennonite Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)

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 Achilles had a population of 29 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Ludell
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Ludell is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludell
  • Chardon
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Chardon is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chardon
  • Atwood
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Herndon
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Herndon is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herndon
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
  • Blakeman
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Blakeman is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blakeman
  • Rexford
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Oberlin
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Traer
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Traer is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Traer
  • Selden
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Selden is located in Sheridan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selden
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 211 people
  • Gem
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Gem is located in Thomas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gem
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
  • Beardsley
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Beardsley is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beardsley
  • Cornell ‑ Historic
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Cornell is located in Hitchcock County (NE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornell
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Dresden
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Cedar Bluffs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Cedar Bluffs is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluffs
    • Kanona
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Kanona is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanona

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

Newspapers Published in Achilles ...

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 77 newspapers that have been published in the area around Achilles.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Achilles, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Achilles.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Achilles:

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 Achilles, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Achilles) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.