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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 Dodge City (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 Dodge City. 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 and hospitals 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.

Dodge City is located in Ford County and is the County Seat.

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 Ford County: Clark, Edwards, Gray, Hodgeman, Kiowa & Meade.

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

  • Ford County     (The home county of Dodge City)
  • Clark County
  • Edwards County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dodge City, with the one closest to Dodge City listed first.
    • Offerle
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Ardell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ardell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardell
      • Ardell is located in Edwards County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ardell
      • From Dodge City to Ardell
  • Finney County
    • Kalvesta
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kalvesta. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kalvesta
      • Kalvesta is located in Finney County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kalvesta
      • From Dodge City to Kalvesta
  • Gray County
  • Hodgeman County
  • Meade County
    • Fowler
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fowler have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler
      • Fowler is located in Meade County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 516 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fowler <3>

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

Cemeteries Near Dodge City ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Dodge City.

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

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

  • Greencrest Memorial Garden
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greencrest Memorial Garden
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greencrest Memorial Garden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maple Grove Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Kansas Veterans' Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kansas Veterans' Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kansas Veterans' Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pleasant Vale Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Vale Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Vale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Christ the King Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Christ the King Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Christ the King Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ridenour Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ridenour Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ridenour Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Johnson Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Johnson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Johnson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Concord Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Concord Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Concord Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Michaels Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Ensign Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ensign Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ensign Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Silent Land Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Silent Land Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Silent Land Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (25 more) ...
    • Ford Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ford Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Cimarron Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Cave Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cave Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cave Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Dodge City had a population of 1,763 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Dodge City had a population of 26,687 people.

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

  • South Dodge
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Dodge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Dodge
    • South Dodge is located in Ford County
  • Wright
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Wilroads
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wilroads. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilroads
    • Wilroads is located in Ford County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Wilroads
    • From Dodge City to Wilroads
  • Howell
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Howell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howell
    • Howell is located in Ford County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Howell
    • From Dodge City to Howell
  • Ensign
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Spearville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Ford
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ford
    • Ford is located in Ford County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 212 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ford <3>
  • Cimarron
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Bloom
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Bellefont
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bellefont have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellefont
    • Bellefont is located in Ford County
  • Kingsdown
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kingsdown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsdown
    • Kingsdown is located in Ford County
  • Minneola
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Jetmore
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Ingalls
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ingalls. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingalls
      • Ingalls is located in Gray County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 284 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ingalls
      • From Dodge City to Ingalls
    • Bucklin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bucklin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucklin
      • Bucklin is located in Ford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 754 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bucklin <3>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Dodge City ...

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 103 newspapers that have been published in the area around Dodge City.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Dodge City. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Dodge City and those printed in the larger area surrounding Dodge City.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5> of Dodge City.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Dodge City:

The official website for Dodge City: www.dodgecity.org/

The official website for Ford County: www.fordcounty.net/

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>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Dodge City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Dodge City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.7655, Longitude: -100.0164    
<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 Dodge City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 13 Jul 2025