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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 Clay Center (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 Clay Center. 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 Clay Center ...

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 Clay Center: Clay Ctr. (or less commonly used: Clay Cen., Clay Cent. or Clay Cntr.)

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 northwest 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 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.

Clay Center is located in Butler 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 Butler County: Chase, Cowley, Elk, Greenwood, Harvey, Marion, Sedgwick & Sumner.

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

  • Butler County     (The home county of Clay Center)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clay Center, with the one closest to Clay Center listed first.
    • Wingate
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wingate have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wingate
      • Wingate is located in Butler County
    • Bloomington
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Smileyville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Latham
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Latham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <3>
    • Bois d'Arc
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Leon
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leon
      • Leon is located in Butler County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 730 people
      • Leon has also been known as:
      • West Leon
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leon <3>
    • Pickrell Corner
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pickrell Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickrell Corner
      • Pickrell Corner is located in Butler County
    • Keighley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keighley
      • Keighley is located in Butler County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Keighley
      • From Clay Center to Keighley
    • Haverhill
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Haverhill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haverhill
      • Haverhill is located in Butler County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Haverhill
      • From Clay Center to Haverhill
    • Gordon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gordon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
      • Gordon is located in Butler County
    • Douglass
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Douglass have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglass
      • Douglass is located in Butler County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,646 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Douglass <3>
    • Augusta
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Cowley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clay Center, with the one closest to Clay Center listed first.
    • Atlanta
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Atlanta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlanta
      • Atlanta is located in Cowley County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Atlanta <3>
    • Glen Crouse
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Wilmot
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Burden
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Floral
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Floral. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floral
      • Floral is located in Cowley County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Floral
      • From Clay Center to Floral
    • Rock
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Cambridge
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cambridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge
      • Cambridge is located in Cowley County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 81 people
    • New Salem
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Grand Summit
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Akron
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Akron. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Akron
      • Akron is located in Cowley County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Akron
      • From Clay Center to Akron
    • Eaton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Eaton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eaton
      • Eaton is located in Cowley County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Eaton
      • From Clay Center to Eaton
    • Tisdale
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tisdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tisdale
      • Tisdale is located in Cowley County
  • Elk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clay Center, with the one closest to Clay Center listed first.
    • Grenola
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Howard
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Moline
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moline have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <3>
    • Fiat
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fiat
      • Fiat is located in Elk County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fiat
      • From Clay Center to Fiat
  • Greenwood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clay Center, with the one closest to Clay Center listed first.
    • Piedmont
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Piedmont have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <3>
    • Reece
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Severy
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Ivanpah
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ivanpah have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanpah
      • Ivanpah is located in Greenwood County
  • Sedgwick County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clay Center, with the one closest to Clay Center listed first.
    • Mulvane
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mulvane have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulvane
      • Mulvane is located in Sedgwick County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,566 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mulvane <3>
    • Derby
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Derby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
      • Derby is located in Sedgwick County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,145 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Derby <3>
    • Eastborough
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eastborough have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastborough
      • Eastborough is located in Sedgwick County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 730 people
    • Greenwich
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenwich have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwich
      • Greenwich is located in Sedgwick County
    • Waco
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waco have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waco
      • Waco is located in Sedgwick County
    • Wego-Waco
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Sumner County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clay Center, with the one closest to Clay Center listed first.
    • Oxford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Belle Plaine
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belle Plaine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Plaine
      • Belle Plaine is located in Sumner County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,535 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Belle Plaine <3>
    • Paton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Paton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paton
      • Paton is located in Sumner County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Paton
      • From Clay Center to Paton

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

Cemeteries Near Clay Center ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Clay Center.

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

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

  • Lone Star Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lone Star Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lone Star Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bryant Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bryant Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bryant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Muqbra Muslim Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Muqbra Muslim Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Muqbra Muslim Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Timber Creek Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Timber Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Timber Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Latham Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Latham Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Latham Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bogle Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bogle Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bogle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Brownlow Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • High Prairie Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Mt. Vernon Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Vernon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Vernon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Box Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Glen Grouse Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Glen Grouse Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Glen Grouse Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cumberland Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (109 more) ...
    • Widener Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Widener Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Widener Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Grand Prairie Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Garrison Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Garrison Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Garrison 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>

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

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

  • Wingate
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wingate have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wingate
    • Wingate is located in Butler County
  • Atlanta
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Atlanta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlanta
    • Atlanta is located in Cowley County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Atlanta <3>
  • Latham
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Latham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <3>
  • Wilmot
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Leon
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leon
    • Leon is located in Butler County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 730 people
    • Leon has also been known as:
    • West Leon
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leon <3>
  • Haverhill
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Haverhill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haverhill
    • Haverhill is located in Butler County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Haverhill
    • From Clay Center to Haverhill
  • Keighley
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • 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.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keighley
    • Keighley is located in Butler County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Keighley
    • From Clay Center to Keighley
  • Gordon
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gordon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
    • Gordon is located in Butler County
  • Douglass
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Douglass have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglass
    • Douglass is located in Butler County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,646 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Douglass <3>
  • Rock
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Floral
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Floral. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floral
    • Floral is located in Cowley County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Floral
    • From Clay Center to Floral
  • Burden
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Clay Center ...

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 128 newspapers that have been published in the area around Clay Center.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Clay Center, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Clay Center.

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 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 Clay Center:

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

The official website for Butler County: www.bucoks.com/

The official website for State of Kansas: https://portal.kansas.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>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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Clay Center) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Clay Center. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.5192, Longitude: -96.7704       In this case, the coordinates for Clay Center have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<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 Clay Center, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025