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 Fontana (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 Fontana. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.
Fontana is located in Miami 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 Miami County: Anderson, Douglas, Franklin, Johnson, Linn, Bates (MO) & Cass (MO).
Below are the counties that are near Fontana. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Fontana:
- Miami County (The home county of Fontana)
- The following are listed by their distance from Fontana, with the one closest to Fontana listed first.
- Block
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Block is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Block
- New Lancaster
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- New Lancaster is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lancaster
- Osawatomie
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Jingo
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Jingo is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jingo
- Paola
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Somerset
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Stanton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Stanton is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanton
- Hillsdale
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Hillsdale is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
- Louisburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Louisburg is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,590 people
- Former name for Louisburg:
- New Saint Lewis
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Louisburg <1>
- Chiles
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Chiles is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chiles
- Bucyrus
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Bucyrus is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucyrus
- Wea
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Wea is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wea
- Anderson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fontana, with the one closest to Fontana listed first.
- Greeley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Scipio
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Scipio is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scipio
- Bush City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Bush City is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bush City
- Garnett
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Selma
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Selma is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
- Glenlock
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Glenlock is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenlock
- Kincaid
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Kincaid is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kincaid
- Population from the 2020 Census: 119 people
- Welda
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Welda is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welda
- Bourbon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fontana, with the one closest to Fontana listed first.
- Mapleton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Mapleton is located in Bourbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mapleton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
- Barnesville ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Barnesville is located in Bourbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnesville
- Fulton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Xenia
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Xenia is located in Bourbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Xenia
- Douglas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fontana, with the one closest to Fontana listed first.
- Black Jack ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Black Jack is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Jack
- Baldwin City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Clearfield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Clearfield is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearfield
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fontana, with the one closest to Fontana listed first.
- Lane
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Lane is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane
- Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
- Lane has also been known as:
- Lane City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lane <1>
- Rantoul
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Rantoul is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rantoul
- Population from the 2020 Census: 187 people
- Imes
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Imes is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Imes
- Peoria
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Peoria is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peoria
- Richmond
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Wellsville
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Princeton
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- B N Junction
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- B N Junction is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for B N Junction
- Le Loup
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Le Loup is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Le Loup
- Ottawa
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Ottawa Junction
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Ottawa Junction is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottawa Junction
- Norwood
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Norwood is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
- Homewood
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Homewood is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood
- Johnson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fontana, with the one closest to Fontana listed first.
- Spring Hill
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Spring Hill is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Hill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,871 people
- Spring Hill has also been known as:
- Spring Hill Station
- Springfield
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spring Hill <1>
- Edgerton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Stilwell
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Stilwell is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stilwell
- Clare
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Clare is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clare
- Gardner
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Linn County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fontana, with the one closest to Fontana listed first.
- La Cygne
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cadmus
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Cadmus is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cadmus
- Linn Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Linn Valley is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linn Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 876 people
- Parker
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Parker is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker
- Population from the 2020 Census: 262 people
- Boicourt
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Boicourt is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boicourt
- Goodrich
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Goodrich is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodrich
- Centerville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Centerville is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Pleasanton
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Critzer
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Critzer is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Critzer
- Mound City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Blue Mound
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Prescott
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Prescott is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescott
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
- Bates County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Fontana, with the one closest to Fontana listed first.
- Merwin
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Merwin is located in Bates County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merwin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
- Amsterdam
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Drexel
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Amoret
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Amoret is located in Bates County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amoret
- Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
- Burdett
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Burdett is located in Bates County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burdett
- Worland
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Worland is located in Bates County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worland
- Foster
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Foster is located in Bates County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 111 people
- Adrian
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Nyhart
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Nyhart is located in Bates County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nyhart
- Passaic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Passaic is located in Bates County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Passaic
- Population from the 2020 Census: 32 people
- Hume
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hume is located in Bates County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hume
- Population from the 2020 Census: 315 people
- New Home
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- New Home is located in Bates County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Home
- Butler
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Cass County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Fontana, with the one closest to Fontana listed first.
- Main City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Main City is located in Cass County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Main City
- West Line
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- West Line is located in Cass County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Line
- Population from the 2020 Census: 108 people
- Cleveland
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cleveland is located in Cass County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 668 people
- Freeman
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Annette
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Annette is located in Cass County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Annette
- Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
- Archie
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Riverview Estates
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Riverview Estates is located in Cass County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview Estates
- Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
- Riverview Estates has also been known as:
- Riverview Estates village
- Austin
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Austin is located in Cass County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austin
- Peculiar
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Harrelson
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Harrelson is located in Cass County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrelson
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Fontana, see our County-by-County Page for Fontana.
Cemeteries Near Fontana ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fontana.
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 Fontana - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Fontana covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Fontana, with the one closest to Fontana listed first.
- Fontana Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Debrick Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Whiteford Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiteford Cemetery
- The Whiteford Cemetery has also been known as:
- Osage Cemetery
- Cadmus Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Mt. Nebo Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Frank Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Block Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Beagle Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Oaklawn Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- New Lancaster Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mound Creek Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Prairie Home Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Continue List (189 more) ...
- Osawatomie State Hospital Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Elmdale Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Oakwood Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
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 Fontana had a population of 256 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Fontana had a population of 242 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Fontana, with the one closest to Fontana listed first.
- Block
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Block is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Block
- Cadmus
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Cadmus is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cadmus
- La Cygne
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- New Lancaster
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- New Lancaster is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lancaster
- Beagle
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Beagle is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beagle
- Osawatomie
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Jingo
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Jingo is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jingo
- Parker
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Parker is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker
- Population from the 2020 Census: 262 people
- Paola
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- O'Brien
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- O'Brien is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for O'Brien
- Goodrich
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Goodrich is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodrich
- Boicourt
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Boicourt is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boicourt
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Lane
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Lane is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane
- Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
- Lane has also been known as:
- Lane City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lane <1>
- Farlinville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Farlinville is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farlinville
- Merwin
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Merwin is located in Bates County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merwin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Fontana. See our List of 1890's Communities around Fontana.
Newspapers Published in Fontana ...
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 97 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fontana.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fontana, 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 Fontana.
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 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 Fontana:
- Websites specific to Kansas
- Pages specific to Miami County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Anderson County
- Bourbon County
- Douglas County
- Franklin County
- Johnson County
- Linn County
- Bates County
- Cass 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> | 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 Fontana, 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' (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- Fontana) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |