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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 Athens (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 Athens. 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 hospitals and 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.

Athens is located in Woodson County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Woodson County: Allen, Anderson, Coffey, Greenwood, Neosho & Wilson.

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

  • Woodson County     (The home county of Athens)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
    • Piqua
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Hasty
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hasty. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hasty
      • Hasty is located in Woodson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hasty
      • From Athens to Hasty
    • Durand
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Vernon
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cookville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cookville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cookville
      • Cookville is located in Woodson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cookville
      • From Athens to Cookville
    • Neosho Falls
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Neosho Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neosho Falls
      • Neosho Falls is located in Woodson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 133 people
    • Yates Center
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yates Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yates Center
      • Yates Center is located in Woodson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,267 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Yates Center <1>
    • Rose
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rose have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose
      • Rose is located in Woodson County
    • North Ridge ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Ridge
      • North Ridge is located in Woodson County
    • Batesville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Batesville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Batesville
      • Batesville is located in Woodson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Batesville
      • From Athens to Batesville
    • Toronto
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Toronto have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toronto
      • Toronto is located in Woodson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 252 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Toronto <1>
  • Allen County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
    • Geneva
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Bassett
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bassett have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bassett
      • Bassett is located in Allen County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23 people
    • Iola
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iola have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iola
      • Iola is located in Allen County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,264 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iola <1>
    • Humboldt
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Carlyle
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Petrolia
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Petrolia have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petrolia
      • Petrolia is located in Allen County
    • Gas
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Octagon City ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • La Harpe
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Leanna
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Leanna. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leanna
      • Leanna is located in Allen County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Leanna
      • From Athens to Leanna
    • Moran
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Bayard
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bayard. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayard
      • Bayard is located in Allen County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bayard
      • From Athens to Bayard
    • Mildred
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mildred have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mildred
      • Mildred is located in Allen County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 23 people
  • Anderson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
    • Colony
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colony have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
      • Colony is located in Anderson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 424 people
    • Westphalia
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westphalia have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westphalia
      • Westphalia is located in Anderson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 164 people
    • Lone Elm
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lone Elm. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Elm
      • Lone Elm is located in Anderson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lone Elm
      • From Athens to Lone Elm
    • Mont Ida
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Welda
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Kincaid
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kincaid have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kincaid
      • Kincaid is located in Anderson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 119 people
    • Central City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Central City. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central City
      • Central City is located in Anderson County
      • Former name for Central City:
      • Jerome
      • Central City has also been known as:
      • Central
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Central City
      • From Athens to Central City
    • Harris
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Bourbon County
    • Bronson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bronson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bronson
      • Bronson is located in Bourbon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bronson <1>
  • Coffey County
  • Greenwood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
    • Virgil
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virgil have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgil
      • Virgil is located in Greenwood County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 62 people
    • Neal
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Lamont
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Fall River
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fall River have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall River
      • Fall River is located in Greenwood County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fall River <1>
    • Hamilton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Neosho County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
    • Chanute
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Earlton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Earlton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earlton
      • Earlton is located in Neosho County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 52 people
    • Rollin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Thayer
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Stark
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stark have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stark
      • Stark is located in Neosho County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 66 people
    • Erie
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Erie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
      • Erie is located in Neosho County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,081 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Erie <1>
  • Wilson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
    • South Ridge ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Ridge
      • South Ridge is located in Wilson County
    • Buffalo
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Rest
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rest. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rest
      • Rest is located in Wilson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rest
      • From Athens to Rest
    • Vilas
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Vilas. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vilas
      • Vilas is located in Wilson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Vilas
      • From Athens to Vilas
    • Middletown
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Middletown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middletown
      • Middletown is located in Wilson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Middletown
      • From Athens to Middletown
    • Roper
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Benedict
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Coyville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Benedict Junction
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Guilford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Guilford. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guilford
      • Guilford is located in Wilson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Guilford
      • From Athens to Guilford
    • Altoona
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Fredonia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fredonia have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredonia
      • Fredonia is located in Wilson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,182 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fredonia <1>
    • New Albany
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Athens ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Athens.

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 Athens covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens 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.<5>

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

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

  • Piqua
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Vernon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Cookville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cookville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cookville
    • Cookville is located in Woodson County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Cookville
    • From Athens to Cookville
  • Yates Center
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yates Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yates Center
    • Yates Center is located in Woodson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,267 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Yates Center <1>
  • Neosho Falls
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Neosho Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neosho Falls
    • Neosho Falls is located in Woodson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 133 people
  • Rose
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rose have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose
    • Rose is located in Woodson County
  • Geneva
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Humboldt
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Iola
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iola have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iola
    • Iola is located in Allen County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,264 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iola <1>
  • Le Roy
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Batesville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Batesville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Batesville
    • Batesville is located in Woodson County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Batesville
    • From Athens to Batesville
  • Buffalo
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Middletown
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Middletown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middletown
      • Middletown is located in Wilson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Middletown
      • From Athens to Middletown
    • Rest
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rest. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rest
      • Rest is located in Wilson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rest
      • From Athens to Rest
    • Vilas
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Vilas. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vilas
      • Vilas is located in Wilson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Vilas
      • From Athens to Vilas

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

Newspapers Published in Athens ...

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 134 newspapers that have been published in the area around Athens.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Athens, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Athens.

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 Athens:

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

The official website for Woodson County: www.woodsoncounty.net/

The official website for State of Kansas: https://portal.kansas.gov/

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>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.
<3>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.
<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>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 Athens, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 from Point A (ie- Athens) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Athens. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.9062, Longitude: -95.6145       In this case, the coordinates for Athens have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025