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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Forest City. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Forest City to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Forest City, please Contact Us.

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 Forest 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 Forest 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.

Name Variations for Forest City ...

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.

Another variation: Forest.

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 southwest 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 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 west 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Forest City is historic, it would have been located within present day Barber 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 Barber County: Comanche, Harper, Kingman, Kiowa, Pratt, Alfalfa (OK) & Woods (OK).

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

  • Barber County     (The home county of Forest City)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest City, with the one closest to Forest City listed first.
    • Lake City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
      • Lake City is located in Barber County
    • Medicine Lodge
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Elm Mills
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elm Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Mills
      • Elm Mills is located in Barber County
    • Sun City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun City
      • Sun City is located in Barber County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 47 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sun City <2>
    • Pixley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pixley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pixley
      • Pixley is located in Barber County
    • Isabel
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Isabel have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabel
      • Isabel is located in Barber County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
    • Sharon
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sharon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon
      • Sharon is located in Barber County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
      • Former name for Sharon:
      • Bible Valley
    • Eldred ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eldred have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldred
      • Eldred is located in Barber County
    • Aetna ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aetna
      • Aetna is located in Barber County
    • Hardtner
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Stubbs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stubbs
      • Stubbs is located in Barber County
    • Hazelton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hazelton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazelton
      • Hazelton is located in Barber County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
  • Comanche County
    • Wilmore
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmore
      • Wilmore is located in Comanche County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 47 people
  • Harper County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest City, with the one closest to Forest City listed first.
    • Crisfield
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crisfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crisfield
      • Crisfield is located in Harper County
    • Attica
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Attica have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attica
      • Attica is located in Harper County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 547 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Attica <2>
  • Kingman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest City, with the one closest to Forest City listed first.
    • Nashville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nashville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashville
      • Nashville is located in Kingman County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
    • Zenda
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Zenda have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zenda
      • Zenda is located in Kingman County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 76 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Zenda <2>
    • Cunningham
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cunningham have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cunningham
      • Cunningham is located in Kingman County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 428 people
    • Willowdale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willowdale
      • Willowdale is located in Kingman County
  • Kiowa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest City, with the one closest to Forest City listed first.
    • Belvidere
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belvidere
      • Belvidere is located in Kiowa County
    • Wellsford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsford
      • Wellsford is located in Kiowa County
    • Haviland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Haviland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haviland
      • Haviland is located in Kiowa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 664 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Haviland <2>
  • Pratt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest City, with the one closest to Forest City listed first.
    • Sawyer
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sawyer have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawyer
      • Sawyer is located in Pratt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
    • Coats
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coats have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coats
      • Coats is located in Pratt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
    • Pratt
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Cullison
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cullison
      • Cullison is located in Pratt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
    • Cairo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo
      • Cairo is located in Pratt County
    • Iuka
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iuka have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iuka
      • Iuka is located in Pratt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
  • Woods County (OK)
    • Capron
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capron
      • Capron is located in Woods County (OK)
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 23 people

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

Newspapers Published in Forest 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 70 newspapers that have been published in the area around Forest City.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Forest City, 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 Forest City.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Forest City:

Cemeteries Near Forest City ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Forest 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 Forest City covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • John Jesse Gravesite
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Highland Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Highland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highland Cemetery
  • Sunnyside Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunnyside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunnyside Cemetery
  • Lodi Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lodi Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lodi Cemetery
  • Mumford Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mumford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mumford Cemetery
  • Isabel Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Ellenwood Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ellenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ellenwood Cemetery
  • Coats Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Coats Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Coats Cemetery
  • Pleasant View Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant View Cemetery
  • Chinn Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chinn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chinn Cemetery
  • Fritz Family Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Liberty Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Liberty Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Liberty Cemetery
  • Continue List   (41 more) ...
    • East Slope Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Slope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Slope Cemetery
    • Ruddick Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ruddick Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ruddick Cemetery
    • Sharon Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sharon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sharon Cemetery

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.

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

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

  • Mingona
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mingona have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mingona
    • Mingona is located in Barber County
  • Lake City
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
    • Lake City is located in Barber County
  • Medicine Lodge
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Elm Mills
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elm Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Mills
    • Elm Mills is located in Barber County
  • Sun City
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun City
    • Sun City is located in Barber County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 47 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sun City <2>
  • Deerhead
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deerhead have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerhead
    • Deerhead is located in Barber County
  • Sawyer
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sawyer have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawyer
    • Sawyer is located in Pratt County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
  • Coats
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coats have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coats
    • Coats is located in Pratt County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
  • Pixley
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pixley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pixley
    • Pixley is located in Barber County
  • Isabel
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Isabel have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabel
    • Isabel is located in Barber County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
  • Sharon
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sharon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon
    • Sharon is located in Barber County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
    • Former name for Sharon:
    • Bible Valley
  • Springvale
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springvale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springvale
    • Springvale is located in Pratt County
    • Springvale has also been known as:
    • Springdale
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Eldred ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eldred have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldred
      • Eldred is located in Barber County
    • Nashville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nashville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashville
      • Nashville is located in Kingman County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
    • Aetna ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aetna
      • Aetna is located in Barber County

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

The official website for State of Kansas: https://portal.kansas.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Forest City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Forest City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Forest City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3225, Longitude: -98.7306       In this case, the coordinates for Forest City have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024