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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 Herndon (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 Herndon. 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 hospitals and 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.

Herndon is located in Rawlins 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 Rawlins County: Cheyenne, Decatur, Sherman, Thomas, Dundy (NE), Hitchcock (NE) & Red Willow (NE).

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

  • Rawlins County     (The home county of Herndon)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Herndon, with the one closest to Herndon listed first.
    • Ludell
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Ludell is located in Rawlins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludell
    • Atwood
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Beardsley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Beardsley is located in Rawlins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beardsley
  • Decatur County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Herndon, with the one closest to Herndon listed first.
    • Traer
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Traer is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Traer
    • Oberlin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Kanona
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Kanona is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanona
    • Dresden
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Leoville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Leoville is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leoville
    • Lyle
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Lyle is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyle
    • Jennings
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jennings is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennings
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 90 people
  • Sheridan County
    • Selden
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Selden is located in Sheridan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 211 people
  • Thomas County
    • Rexford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Hitchcock County (NE)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Herndon, with the one closest to Herndon listed first.
    • Trenton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Trenton is located in Hitchcock County (NE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trenton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 533 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Trenton <1>
    • Culbertson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Beverly
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Beverly is located in Hitchcock County (NE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beverly
    • Stratton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Stratton is located in Hitchcock County (NE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 325 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stratton <1>
  • Red Willow County (NE)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Herndon, with the one closest to Herndon listed first.
    • McCook
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • McCook is located in Red Willow County (NE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCook
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,499 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McCook <1>
    • Danbury
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Danbury is located in Red Willow County (NE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danbury
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Danbury <1>
    • Red Willow
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Red Willow is located in Red Willow County (NE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Willow
    • Lebanon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Lebanon is located in Red Willow County (NE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lebanon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 76 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lebanon <1>
    • Indianola
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Herndon ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Herndon.

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 Herndon - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Herndon covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • St. Mary's Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Union Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Evangelical Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Hamper Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Covenant Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Swedish Baptist Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Swedish Lutheran Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Traer Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Immanuel Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (54 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Herndon had a population of 26 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Herndon had a population of 129 people.

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

  • Traer
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Traer is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Traer
  • Ludell
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Ludell is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludell
  • Cornell ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Cornell is located in Hitchcock County (NE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornell
  • Cedar Bluffs
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Cedar Bluffs is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluffs
  • Achilles
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Achilles is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Achilles
  • Oberlin
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Atwood
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Blakeman
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Blakeman is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blakeman
  • Trenton
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Trenton is located in Hitchcock County (NE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trenton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 533 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Trenton <1>
  • Perry
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Perry is located in Red Willow County (NE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perry
  • Chardon
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Chardon is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chardon
  • Kanona
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Kanona is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanona
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Danbury
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Danbury is located in Red Willow County (NE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danbury
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Danbury <1>
    • McCook
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • McCook is located in Red Willow County (NE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCook
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,499 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McCook <1>
    • Culbertson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Herndon ...

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 107 newspapers that have been published in the area around Herndon.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Herndon. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Herndon and those printed in the larger area surrounding Herndon.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Herndon.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Herndon:

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 Herndon, 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 from Point A (ie- Herndon) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.