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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 Fostoria (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 Fostoria. 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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Fostoria is located in Pottawatomie 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 Pottawatomie County: Jackson, Marshall, Nemaha, Riley, Shawnee & Wabaunsee.

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

  • Pottawatomie County     (The home county of Fostoria)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fostoria, with the one closest to Fostoria listed first.
    • Westmoreland
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Olsburg
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olsburg
      • Olsburg is located in Pottawatomie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 223 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Olsburg <1>
    • Blaine
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Wheaton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wheaton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheaton
      • Wheaton is located in Pottawatomie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
    • Duluth
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Louisville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Louisville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisville
      • Louisville is located in Pottawatomie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
      • Louisville has also been known as:
      • Louisville Springs
      • Rock City
      • Rock Creek Falls
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Louisville <1>
    • Saint George
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint George have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint George
      • Saint George is located in Pottawatomie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,017 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint George <1>
    • Onaga
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Wamego
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wamego have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wamego
      • Wamego is located in Pottawatomie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,718 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wamego <1>
    • Aikins
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Havensville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Belvue
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belvue have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belvue
      • Belvue is located in Pottawatomie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 204 people
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fostoria, with the one closest to Fostoria listed first.
    • Green
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Broughton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Broughton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broughton
      • Broughton is located in Clay County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Broughton
      • From Fostoria to Broughton
  • Geary County
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fostoria, with the one closest to Fostoria listed first.
    • Avoca ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Avoca. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
      • Avoca is located in Jackson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Avoca
      • From Fostoria to Avoca
    • Soldier
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Soldier have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soldier
      • Soldier is located in Jackson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 132 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Soldier <1>
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fostoria, with the one closest to Fostoria listed first.
    • Irving ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Irving. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irving
      • Irving is located in Marshall County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Irving
      • From Fostoria to Irving
    • Frankfort
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Blue Rapids
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blue Rapids have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Rapids
      • Blue Rapids is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 960 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blue Rapids <1>
    • Waterville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Winifred
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Vermillion
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vermillion have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vermillion
      • Vermillion is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 101 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vermillion <1>
    • Alcove Spring ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Carden
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Carden. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carden
      • Carden is located in Marshall County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Carden
      • From Fostoria to Carden
    • Home
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Marysville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Beattie
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Nemaha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fostoria, with the one closest to Fostoria listed first.
    • America City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for America City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for America City
      • America City is located in Nemaha County
    • Centralia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Corning
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Corning have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corning
      • Corning is located in Nemaha County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 162 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Corning <1>
  • Riley County
  • Wabaunsee County
    • McFarland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McFarland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McFarland
      • McFarland is located in Wabaunsee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 250 people
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fostoria, with the one closest to Fostoria listed first.
    • Chepstow
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chepstow. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chepstow
      • Chepstow is located in Washington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Chepstow
      • From Fostoria to Chepstow
    • Barnes
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Kimeo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kimeo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimeo
      • Kimeo is located in Washington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kimeo
      • From Fostoria to Kimeo

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

Cemeteries Near Fostoria ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fostoria.

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

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

  • King Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the King Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the King Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Spring Creek Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spring Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spring Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Huff Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Huff Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Huff Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sales Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sales Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sales Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Westmoreland Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Westmoreland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Westmoreland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mariadahl Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mariadahl Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mariadahl Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oostburg Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oostburg Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oostburg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Westmoreland Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Westmoreland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Westmoreland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Moodyville Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Moodyville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Moodyville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Columkilles Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Columkilles Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Columkilles Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Admatha Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Admatha Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Admatha Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cedar Hill Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cedar Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cedar Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (156 more) ...

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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Fostoria had a population of 220 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Westmoreland
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Olsburg
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olsburg
    • Olsburg is located in Pottawatomie County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 223 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Olsburg <1>
  • Blaine
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Wheaton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wheaton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheaton
    • Wheaton is located in Pottawatomie County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
  • Randolph
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Irving ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Irving. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irving
    • Irving is located in Marshall County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Irving
    • From Fostoria to Irving
  • Walsburg
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Walsburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walsburg
    • Walsburg is located in Riley County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Walsburg
    • From Fostoria to Walsburg
  • Louisville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Louisville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisville
    • Louisville is located in Pottawatomie County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
    • Louisville has also been known as:
    • Louisville Springs
    • Rock City
    • Rock Creek Falls
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Louisville <1>
  • Laclede
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Laclede have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laclede
    • Laclede is located in Pottawatomie County
  • Manhattan
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Saint George
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint George have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint George
    • Saint George is located in Pottawatomie County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,017 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint George <1>
  • Winkler
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Winkler. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winkler
    • Winkler is located in Riley County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Winkler
    • From Fostoria to Winkler
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Keats
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Blue Rapids
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blue Rapids have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Rapids
      • Blue Rapids is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 960 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blue Rapids <1>
    • Onaga
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in Fostoria ...

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 145 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fostoria.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fostoria, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fostoria.

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 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 Fostoria:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Fostoria. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Pottawatomie County: www.pottcounty.org/

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

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 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>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.
<4>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 Fostoria, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Fostoria) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fostoria. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4404, Longitude: -96.5081       In this case, the coordinates for Fostoria have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025