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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 Cottonwood Falls (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 Cottonwood Falls. 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 Cottonwood Falls ...

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.

In past government published Postal Guides, Cottonwood Falls was referred to as Cottonwood Falls Courthouse.

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.

For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.

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 doctors and hospitals 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.

Cottonwood Falls is located in Chase County and is the County Seat.

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 Chase County: Butler, Greenwood, Lyon, Marion & Morris.

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

  • Chase County     (The home county of Cottonwood Falls)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cottonwood Falls, with the one closest to Cottonwood Falls listed first.
    • Strong City
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Strong City is located in Chase County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strong City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 446 people
      • Strong City has also been known as:
      • Strong
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Strong City <1>
    • Gladstone
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Gladstone is located in Chase County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladstone
    • Neva
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Neva is located in Chase County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neva
      • Neva has also been known as:
      • Neva Station
    • Elmdale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Ellinor
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Ellinor is located in Chase County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellinor
    • Rockland
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Rockland is located in Chase County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockland
    • Bazaar
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Bazaar is located in Chase County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bazaar
    • Saffordville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Saffordville is located in Chase County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saffordville
    • Toledo
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Toledo is located in Chase County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toledo
    • Hymer
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Hymer is located in Chase County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hymer
    • Clements
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Clements is located in Chase County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clements
    • Matfield Green
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Butler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cottonwood Falls, with the one closest to Cottonwood Falls listed first.
    • Cassoday
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Aikman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Aikman is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aikman
  • Dickinson County
    • Herington
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Greenwood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cottonwood Falls, with the one closest to Cottonwood Falls listed first.
    • Lapland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Lapland is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lapland
    • Madison
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Lyon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cottonwood Falls, with the one closest to Cottonwood Falls listed first.
    • Plymouth
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Plymouth is located in Lyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth
    • Merrick
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Merrick is located in Lyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrick
    • Americus
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Berkeley Hills
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Berkeley Hills is located in Lyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkeley Hills
    • Emporia
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Emporia Junction
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Emporia Junction is located in Lyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emporia Junction
    • Olpe
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Bushong
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Bushong is located in Lyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushong
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 33 people
    • Lang
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Lang is located in Lyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lang
      • Lang has also been known as:
      • Hortonville
    • Agnes City ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Agnes City is located in Lyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agnes City
    • Allen
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Allen is located in Lyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 169 people
    • Neosho Rapids
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Neosho Rapids is located in Lyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neosho Rapids
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 262 people
  • Marion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cottonwood Falls, with the one closest to Cottonwood Falls listed first.
    • Florence
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Antelope
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Antelope is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antelope
    • Lincolnville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Lincolnville is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincolnville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 191 people
    • Oursler
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Oursler is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oursler
    • Marion
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Lost Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Burns
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Burns is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burns
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 204 people
    • Pilsen
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Pilsen is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilsen
    • Eastshore
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Eastshore is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastshore
    • Aulne ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Aulne is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aulne
    • Canada
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Canada is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canada
  • Morris County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cottonwood Falls, with the one closest to Cottonwood Falls listed first.
    • Dunlap
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Dunlap is located in Morris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunlap
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 29 people
    • Diamond Springs ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Diamond Springs is located in Morris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond Springs
    • Helmick
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Helmick is located in Morris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helmick
    • Wilsey
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Wilsey is located in Morris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilsey
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
    • Council Grove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Council Grove is located in Morris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Council Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,100 people
      • Council Grove has also been known as:
      • Council
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Council Grove <1>
    • Burdick
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Burdick is located in Morris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burdick
    • Delavan
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Delavan is located in Morris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delavan
    • Downing ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Downing is located in Morris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downing
    • Kelso
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Kelso is located in Morris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelso
    • Parkerville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Parkerville is located in Morris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkerville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
    • Latimer
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Latimer is located in Morris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latimer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19 people

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

Cemeteries Near Cottonwood Falls ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cottonwood Falls.

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 Cottonwood Falls - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Cottonwood Falls, with the one closest to Cottonwood Falls 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Cottonwood Falls had a population of 770 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Cottonwood Falls had a population of 845 people.

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

  • Strong City
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Strong City is located in Chase County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strong City
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 446 people
    • Strong City has also been known as:
    • Strong
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Strong City <1>
  • Gladstone
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Gladstone is located in Chase County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladstone
  • Elmdale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Bazaar
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Bazaar is located in Chase County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bazaar
  • Ellinor
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Ellinor is located in Chase County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellinor
  • Rockland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Rockland is located in Chase County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockland
  • Saffordville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Saffordville is located in Chase County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saffordville
  • Toledo
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Toledo is located in Chase County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toledo
  • Clements
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Clements is located in Chase County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clements
  • Plymouth
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Plymouth is located in Lyon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth
  • Hymer
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hymer is located in Chase County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hymer
  • Matfield Green
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Cedar Point
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Cedar Point is located in Chase County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Point
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26 people
    • Americus
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Dunlap
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Dunlap is located in Morris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunlap
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 29 people

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Cottonwood Falls ...

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 129 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cottonwood Falls.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Cottonwood Falls. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Cottonwood Falls and those printed in the larger area surrounding Cottonwood Falls.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Cottonwood Falls.

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 helpful 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 Cottonwood Falls:

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>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.
<3>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 Cottonwood Falls, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Cottonwood Falls) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.