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 Croft (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 Croft. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Croft is located in Pratt County.
To see how the shape of Kansas' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Pratt County: Barber, Comanche, Edwards, Kingman, Kiowa, Reno & Stafford.
Below are the counties that are near Croft. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Croft:
- Pratt County (The home county of Croft)
- The following are listed by their distance from Croft, with the one closest to Croft listed first.
- Coats
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Coats is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coats
- Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
- Cullison
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Cullison is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cullison
- Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
- Sawyer
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Sawyer is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawyer
- Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
- Pratt
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Byers
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Byers is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byers
- Population from the 2020 Census: 33 people
- Iuka
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Iuka is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iuka
- Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
- Natrona
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Natrona is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natrona
- Cairo
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cairo is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo
- Preston
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Preston is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 148 people
- Barber County
- The following are listed by their distance from Croft, with the one closest to Croft listed first.
- Sun City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Lake City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Lake City is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
- Elm Mills
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Elm Mills is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Mills
- Deerhead
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Deerhead is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerhead
- Forest City ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Forest City is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
- Mingona
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Mingona is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mingona
- Isabel
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Isabel is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabel
- Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
- Medicine Lodge
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Aetna ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Aetna is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aetna
- Comanche County
- The following are listed by their distance from Croft, with the one closest to Croft listed first.
- Wilmore
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Wilmore is located in Comanche County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 47 people
- Coldwater
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Edwards County
- The following are listed by their distance from Croft, with the one closest to Croft listed first.
- Trousdale ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Trousdale is located in Edwards County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trousdale
- Fellsburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Fellsburg is located in Edwards County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fellsburg
- Centerview
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Centerview is located in Edwards County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerview
- Williams ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Williams is located in Edwards County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams
- Hodges
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Hodges is located in Edwards County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodges
- Kiowa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Croft, with the one closest to Croft listed first.
- Belvidere
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Belvidere is located in Kiowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belvidere
- Wellsford
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Wellsford is located in Kiowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsford
- Haviland
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Brenham ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Brenham is located in Kiowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brenham
- Greensburg
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Mullinville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Croft, see our County-by-County Page for Croft.
Cemeteries Near Croft ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Croft.
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 Croft - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Croft covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Croft, with the one closest to Croft listed first.
- Wyman Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Belvidere Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Soldier Creek Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Boles Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Chinn Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- East Slope Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Jenkins Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Wellsford Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Sunnyside Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Coats Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Sunset Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Haviland Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (35 more) ...
- Ruddick Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Providence Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Powell Twp. Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
Nearby Communities in 1895 ...
We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<2>
While we didn't find Croft in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Croft.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Croft, with the one closest to Croft listed first.
- Springvale
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Springvale is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springvale
- Springvale has also been known as:
- Springdale
- Belvidere
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Belvidere is located in Kiowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belvidere
- Wellsford
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Wellsford is located in Kiowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsford
- Sun City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Coats
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Coats is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coats
- Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
- Haviland
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Cullison
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Cullison is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cullison
- Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
- Brenham ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Brenham is located in Kiowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brenham
- Lake City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Lake City is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
- Wilmore
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Wilmore is located in Comanche County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 47 people
- Elm Mills
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Elm Mills is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Mills
- Sawyer
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Sawyer is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawyer
- Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Pratt
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Greensburg
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Deerhead
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Deerhead is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerhead
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Croft. See our List of 1890's Communities around Croft.
Newspapers Published in Croft ...
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 91 newspapers that have been published in the area around Croft.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Croft, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Croft.
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 either offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.
To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Croft:
- Websites specific to Kansas
- Pages specific to Pratt County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Barber County
- Comanche County
- Edwards County
- Kiowa County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Kansas
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Croft, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Croft) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |