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 Gretna (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 Gretna. 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 doctors 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.
Gretna is located in Phillips 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 Phillips County: Graham, Norton, Rooks, Smith, Franklin (NE) & Harlan (NE).
Below are the counties that are near Gretna. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Gretna:
- Phillips County (The home county of Gretna)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gretna, with the one closest to Gretna listed first.
- Agra
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Agra is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agra
- Population from the 2020 Census: 238 people
- Phillipsburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Kirwin
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Glade
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Glade is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glade
- Population from the 2020 Census: 89 people
- Speed
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Speed is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speed
- Population from the 2020 Census: 34 people
- Stuttgart
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Stuttgart is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stuttgart
- Prairie View
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Prairie View is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie View
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
- Logan
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Long Island
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Long Island is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Island
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
- Norton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gretna, with the one closest to Gretna listed first.
- Almena
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Almena is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
- Population from the 2020 Census: 376 people
- Densmore
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Densmore is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Densmore
- Osborne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gretna, with the one closest to Gretna listed first.
- Alton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Alton is located in Osborne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 92 people
- Portis
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Portis is located in Osborne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portis
- Population from the 2020 Census: 92 people
- Rooks County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gretna, with the one closest to Gretna listed first.
- Stockton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Stockton is located in Rooks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,234 people
- Former name for Stockton:
- Stocktown
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stockton <1>
- Woodston
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Woodston is located in Rooks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
- Woodston has also been known as:
- Woodston Saw
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Woodston <1>
- Webster
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Webster is located in Rooks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
- Smith County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gretna, with the one closest to Gretna listed first.
- Kensington
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Kensington is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kensington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 433 people
- Claudell
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Claudell is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claudell
- Athol
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Athol is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athol
- Population from the 2020 Census: 40 people
- Cedar
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cedar is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13 people
- Gaylord
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Smith Center
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Harlan
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Harlan is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harlan
- Bellaire
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Bellaire is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellaire
- Womer
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Womer is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Womer
- Franklin County (NE)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gretna, with the one closest to Gretna listed first.
- Naponee
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Bloomington
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Franklin
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Harlan County (NE)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gretna, with the one closest to Gretna listed first.
- Republican City
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Alma
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Alma is located in Harlan County (NE)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,116 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alma <1>
- Orleans
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Flynn Junction
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Flynn Junction is located in Harlan County (NE)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flynn Junction
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Gretna, see our County-by-County Page for Gretna.
Cemeteries Near Gretna ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gretna.
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 Gretna - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Gretna covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Gretna, with the one closest to Gretna listed first.
- Edwards Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Hillsdale Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Pleasant View Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Agra Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Fairview Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- West Cedar Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Plum Creek Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Kirin Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Pleasant Hill Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Marvin Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Olive Branch Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Matteson Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Continue List (83 more) ...
- Greenwood Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Germantown Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germantown Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Germantown Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 4 miles [6.4 km]<3> to the north of Kensington.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #92531 <2>
- Iowa Union Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 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.<4>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Gretna had railroad service and no post office.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Gretna, with the one closest to Gretna listed first.
- Agra
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Agra is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agra
- Population from the 2020 Census: 238 people
- Phillipsburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Glade
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Glade is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glade
- Population from the 2020 Census: 89 people
- Kirwin
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Kensington
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Kensington is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kensington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 433 people
- Stuttgart
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Stuttgart is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stuttgart
- Athol
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Athol is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athol
- Population from the 2020 Census: 40 people
- Cedar
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cedar is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13 people
- Woodruff
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Woodruff is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodruff
- Prairie View
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Prairie View is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie View
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
- Logan
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Gaylord
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Reamsville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Reamsville is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reamsville
- Naponee
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Long Island
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Long Island is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Island
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Gretna. See our List of 1890's Communities around Gretna.
Newspapers Published in Gretna ...
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 203 newspapers that have been published in the area around Gretna.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Gretna, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Gretna.
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 Gretna:
- Websites specific to Kansas
- Pages specific to Phillips County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Norton County
- Osborne County
- Rooks County
- Smith County
- Franklin County
- Harlan 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> | 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 from Point A (ie- Gretna) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Gretna, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |