RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Kansas >> Elk County >> Cave Springs >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Kansas

The Commemorative Quarter for Kansas





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 Cave Springs (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 Cave Springs. 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 Cave Springs ...

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 have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Cave Springs: Cave Spgs. (or less commonly used: Cave Spngs. or Cave Sprngs.)

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 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.

Cave Springs is located in Elk 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 Elk County: Butler, Chautauqua, Cowley, Greenwood, Montgomery & Wilson.

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

  • Elk County     (The home county of Cave Springs)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cave Springs, with the one closest to Cave Springs listed first.
    • Fiat
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fiat. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fiat
      • Fiat is located in Elk County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fiat
      • From Cave Springs to Fiat
    • Busby
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Busby. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Busby
      • Busby is located in Elk County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Busby
      • From Cave Springs to Busby
    • Howard
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Longton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Upola
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Upola. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upola
      • Upola is located in Elk County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Upola
      • From Cave Springs to Upola
    • Elk Falls
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Oak Valley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Moline
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moline have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moline
      • Moline is located in Elk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 319 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moline <2>
    • Grenola
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Butler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cave Springs, with the one closest to Cave Springs listed first.
    • Beaumont
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Latham
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Latham have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latham
      • Latham is located in Butler County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Latham <2>
    • Keighley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Keighley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keighley
      • Keighley is located in Butler County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Keighley
      • From Cave Springs to Keighley
  • Chautauqua County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cave Springs, with the one closest to Cave Springs listed first.
    • Hale
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hale
      • Hale is located in Chautauqua County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hale
      • From Cave Springs to Hale
    • Grafton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Grafton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grafton
      • Grafton is located in Chautauqua County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Grafton
      • From Cave Springs to Grafton
    • Monett
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Monett. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monett
      • Monett is located in Chautauqua County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Monett
      • From Cave Springs to Monett
    • Rogers
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rogers. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
      • Rogers is located in Chautauqua County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rogers
      • From Cave Springs to Rogers
    • Sedan
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Gibbs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gibbs. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibbs
      • Gibbs is located in Chautauqua County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Gibbs
      • From Cave Springs to Gibbs
  • Cowley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cave Springs, with the one closest to Cave Springs listed first.
    • Grand Summit
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Glen Crouse
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Greenwood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cave Springs, with the one closest to Cave Springs listed first.
    • Fall River
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • 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 <2>
    • Severy
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Climax
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Climax have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
      • Climax is located in Greenwood County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
    • Piedmont
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Piedmont have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piedmont
      • Piedmont is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Piedmont <2>
    • Neal
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Eureka
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eureka have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
      • Eureka is located in Greenwood County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,301 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eureka <2>
    • Reece
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hamilton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Montgomery County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cave Springs, with the one closest to Cave Springs listed first.
    • Elk City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Sycamore
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Wilson County
  • Woodson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cave Springs, with the one closest to Cave Springs listed first.
    • Toronto
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • 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 <2>
    • Batesville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Rose
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • 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

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

Cemeteries Near Cave Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cave Springs.

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

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

  • Wade Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Rural Vale Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Busby Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Busby Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Busby Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cresco Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cresco Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cresco Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Charleston Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Charleston Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Charleston Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Browns Chapel Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Browns Chapel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Browns Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Grace Lawn Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Upola Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Old Tailor Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Tailor Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Tailor Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #93247 <4>
  • Pike Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pike Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pike Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • South Lawn Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Lawn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Lawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (101 more) ...
    • Twin Grove Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Twin Grove Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Twin Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Longton Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jackson Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jackson Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jackson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Cave Springs had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Fiat
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fiat. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fiat
    • Fiat is located in Elk County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Fiat
    • From Cave Springs to Fiat
  • Busby
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Busby. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Busby
    • Busby is located in Elk County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Busby
    • From Cave Springs to Busby
  • Fall River
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • 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 <2>
  • Howard
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Severy
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Longton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Upola
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Upola. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upola
    • Upola is located in Elk County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Upola
    • From Cave Springs to Upola
  • New Albany
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Elk Falls
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Buxton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Climax
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Climax have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
    • Climax is located in Greenwood County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
  • Oak Valley
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Piedmont
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Piedmont have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piedmont
      • Piedmont is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Piedmont <2>
    • Moline
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moline have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moline
      • Moline is located in Elk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 319 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moline <2>
    • Fredonia
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • 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 <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Cave Springs ...

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 171 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cave Springs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Cave Springs, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Cave Springs.

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 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 Cave Springs:

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Cave Springs, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Cave Springs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cave Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.5330, Longitude: -96.1253       In this case, the coordinates for Cave Springs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025