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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 Grenola (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 Grenola. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Grenola is located in Elk 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 Elk County: Butler, Chautauqua, Cowley, Greenwood, Montgomery & Wilson.

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

  • Elk County     (The home county of Grenola)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grenola, with the one closest to Grenola listed first.
    • Moline
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moline have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moline
      • Moline is located in Elk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 319 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moline <2>
    • Howard
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Elk Falls
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Fiat
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fiat. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fiat
      • Fiat is located in Elk County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fiat
      • From Grenola to Fiat
    • Longton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Cave Springs
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Busby
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Busby. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Busby
      • Busby is located in Elk County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Busby
      • From Grenola to Busby
    • Oak Valley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Upola
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Upola. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upola
      • Upola is located in Elk County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Upola
      • From Grenola to Upola
  • Butler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grenola, with the one closest to Grenola listed first.
    • Latham
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Latham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latham
      • Latham is located in Butler County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Latham <2>
    • Wingate
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wingate have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wingate
      • Wingate is located in Butler County
    • Beaumont
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Clay Center
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Clay Center. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay Center
      • Clay Center is located in Butler County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Clay Center
      • From Grenola to Clay Center
    • Keighley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Keighley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keighley
      • Keighley is located in Butler County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Keighley
      • From Grenola to Keighley
    • Smileyville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Smileyville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smileyville
      • Smileyville is located in Butler County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Smileyville
      • From Grenola to Smileyville
    • Bloomington
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Leon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leon
      • Leon is located in Butler County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 730 people
      • Leon has also been known as:
      • West Leon
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leon <2>
  • Chautauqua County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grenola, with the one closest to Grenola listed first.
    • Wauneta
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wauneta. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wauneta
      • Wauneta is located in Chautauqua County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wauneta
      • From Grenola to Wauneta
    • Gibbs
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gibbs. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibbs
      • Gibbs is located in Chautauqua County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Gibbs
      • From Grenola to Gibbs
    • Rogers
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rogers. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
      • Rogers is located in Chautauqua County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rogers
      • From Grenola to Rogers
    • Cedar Vale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Layton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Layton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Layton
      • Layton is located in Chautauqua County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Layton
      • From Grenola to Layton
    • Osro
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Osro. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osro
      • Osro is located in Chautauqua County
      • Osro has also been known as:
      • Osrow
      • Ozro Falls
      • Ozro
      • Ozrow
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Osro
      • From Grenola to Osro
    • Grafton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Grafton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grafton
      • Grafton is located in Chautauqua County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Grafton
      • From Grenola to Grafton
    • Hewins
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hewins have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hewins
      • Hewins is located in Chautauqua County
    • Sedan
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hale
      • Hale is located in Chautauqua County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hale
      • From Grenola to Hale
    • Monett
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Monett. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monett
      • Monett is located in Chautauqua County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Monett
      • From Grenola to Monett
    • Elgin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elgin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgin
      • Elgin is located in Chautauqua County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 79 people
      • Elgin has also been known as:
      • New Elgin
    • Peru
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peru have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru
      • Peru is located in Chautauqua County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 125 people
  • Cowley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grenola, with the one closest to Grenola listed first.
    • Grand Summit
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Glen Crouse
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Glen Crouse. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Crouse
      • Glen Crouse is located in Cowley County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Glen Crouse
      • From Grenola to Glen Crouse
    • Cambridge
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cambridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge
      • Cambridge is located in Cowley County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 81 people
    • Burden
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Hooser
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hooser. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooser
      • Hooser is located in Cowley County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hooser
      • From Grenola to Hooser
    • Taussig
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Taussig have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taussig
      • Taussig is located in Cowley County
    • Dexter
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Atlanta
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Atlanta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlanta
      • Atlanta is located in Cowley County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Atlanta <2>
    • Eaton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Eaton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eaton
      • Eaton is located in Cowley County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Eaton
      • From Grenola to Eaton
    • Tisdale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tisdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tisdale
      • Tisdale is located in Cowley County
    • Wilmot
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • New Salem
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Floral
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Floral. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floral
      • Floral is located in Cowley County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Floral
      • From Grenola to Floral
  • Greenwood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grenola, with the one closest to Grenola listed first.
    • Piedmont
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Piedmont have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piedmont
      • Piedmont is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Piedmont <2>
    • Severy
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Climax
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Climax have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
      • Climax is located in Greenwood County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
    • Fall River
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fall River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall River
      • Fall River is located in Greenwood County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fall River <2>
    • Reece
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Montgomery County
  • Wilson County
  • Osage County (OK)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grenola, with the one closest to Grenola listed first.
    • Frankfort
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Frankfort. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankfort
      • Frankfort is located in Osage County (OK)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Frankfort
      • From Grenola to Frankfort
    • Grainola
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Grenola ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Grenola.

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

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

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 Grenola had a population of 608 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Grenola had a population of 187 people.

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

  • Cloverdale
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cloverdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
    • Cloverdale is located in Chautauqua County
  • Moline
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moline have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moline
    • Moline is located in Elk County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 319 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moline <2>
  • Cambridge
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cambridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge
    • Cambridge is located in Cowley County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 81 people
  • Howard
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Elk Falls
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Wauneta
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wauneta. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wauneta
    • Wauneta is located in Chautauqua County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Wauneta
    • From Grenola to Wauneta
  • Rogers
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rogers. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
    • Rogers is located in Chautauqua County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Rogers
    • From Grenola to Rogers
  • Latham
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Latham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latham
    • Latham is located in Butler County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Latham <2>
  • Wingate
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wingate have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wingate
    • Wingate is located in Butler County
  • Burden
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Hooser
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hooser. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooser
    • Hooser is located in Cowley County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Hooser
    • From Grenola to Hooser
  • Cedar Vale
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Dexter
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Taussig
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Taussig have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taussig
      • Taussig is located in Cowley County
    • Fiat
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fiat. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fiat
      • Fiat is located in Elk County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fiat
      • From Grenola to Fiat

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Grenola ...

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 59 newspapers that have been published in the area around Grenola.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Grenola. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Grenola and those printed in the larger area surrounding Grenola.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5> of Grenola.

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 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 Grenola:

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Grenola) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Grenola. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3513, Longitude: -96.4493    
<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 Grenola, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025