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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 Junction 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 Junction 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.

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 and 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.

Junction City is located in Geary County and is the County Seat.

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 Geary County: Clay, Dickinson, Morris, Riley & Wabaunsee.

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

  • Geary County     (The home county of Junction City)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Junction City, with the one closest to Junction City listed first.
    • Grandview Plaza
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grandview Plaza have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview Plaza
      • Grandview Plaza is located in Geary County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,553 people
    • Wreford
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wreford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wreford
      • Wreford is located in Geary County
    • Kansas Falls
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Alida
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alida. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alida
      • Alida is located in Geary County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Alida
      • From Junction City to Alida
    • Milford
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Clay County
  • Dickinson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Junction City, with the one closest to Junction City listed first.
    • Upland
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Upland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upland
      • Upland is located in Dickinson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Upland
      • From Junction City to Upland
    • Chapman
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Lyona
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lyona. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyona
      • Lyona is located in Dickinson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lyona
      • From Junction City to Lyona
    • Detroit
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Woodbine
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodbine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodbine
      • Woodbine is located in Dickinson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 163 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Woodbine <3>
    • Enterprise
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Buckeye
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Navarre
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Navarre have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navarre
      • Navarre is located in Dickinson County
    • Abilene
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Talmage
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Herington
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Herington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herington
      • Herington is located in Dickinson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,240 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Herington <3>
    • Acme
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Acme. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acme
      • Acme is located in Dickinson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Acme
      • From Junction City to Acme
    • Hope
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Morris County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Junction City, with the one closest to Junction City listed first.
    • Skiddy ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skiddy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skiddy
      • Skiddy is located in Morris County
    • White City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Dwight
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Latimer
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Latimer. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latimer
      • Latimer is located in Morris County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Latimer
      • From Junction City to Latimer
    • Parkerville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parkerville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkerville
      • Parkerville is located in Morris County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
    • Downing ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Downing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downing
      • Downing is located in Morris County
    • Kelso
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kelso. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelso
      • Kelso is located in Morris County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kelso
      • From Junction City to Kelso
    • Delavan
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Wilsey
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Helmick
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Helmick. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helmick
      • Helmick is located in Morris County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Helmick
      • From Junction City to Helmick
  • Pottawatomie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Junction City, with the one closest to Junction City listed first.
    • Saint George
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint George have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <3>
    • Olsburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <3>
    • Wamego
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wamego have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <3>
  • Riley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Junction City, with the one closest to Junction City listed first.
    • Ogden
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Ashland ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ashland came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland
      • Ashland is located in Riley County
      • Ashland has also been known as:
      • Ashland Bottoms
    • Eureka Lake
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eureka Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka Lake
      • Eureka Lake is located in Riley County
    • Keats
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Manhattan
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Riley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Fairmont
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Bala
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Pillsbury Crossing ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Leonardville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Zeandale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Walsburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walsburg
      • Walsburg is located in Riley County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Walsburg
      • From Junction City to Walsburg
    • Lasita ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lasita have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lasita
      • Lasita is located in Riley County
  • Wabaunsee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Junction City, with the one closest to Junction City listed first.
    • Alta Vista
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alta Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alta Vista
      • Alta Vista is located in Wabaunsee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 419 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alta Vista <3>
    • Alma
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alma have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma
      • Alma is located in Wabaunsee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 776 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alma <3>

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

Cemeteries Near Junction City ...

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

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

  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Highland Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wetzel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wetzel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wetzel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rosey Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rosey Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rosey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Vinton Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Vinton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Vinton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Salchow Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Salchow Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Salchow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Laid - Upland Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Laid - Upland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Laid - Upland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Alida Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Alida Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Alida Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Laid Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Laid Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Laid Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Good Hope Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Good Hope Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Good Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (136 more) ...
    • St. Patricks Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Patricks Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Patricks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Branscom Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Branscom Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Branscom Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Humboldt Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Humboldt Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Humboldt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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 Junction City had a population of 4,502 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Junction City had a population of 21,862 people.

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

  • Wreford
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wreford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wreford
    • Wreford is located in Geary County
  • Kansas Falls
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Alida
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alida. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alida
    • Alida is located in Geary County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Alida
    • From Junction City to Alida
  • Ogden
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Chapman
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Milford
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Skiddy ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skiddy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skiddy
    • Skiddy is located in Morris County
  • Sutphen ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sutphen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sutphen
    • Sutphen is located in Dickinson County
  • Eureka Lake
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eureka Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka Lake
    • Eureka Lake is located in Riley County
  • Keats
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Detroit
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Pearl
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pearl have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl
    • Pearl is located in Dickinson County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Junction 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 118 newspapers that have been published in the area around Junction City.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Junction City. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Junction City and those printed in the larger area surrounding Junction City.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<7> of Junction City.

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 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 Junction City:

The official website for Junction City: www.jcks.com/

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>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<5>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.
<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 Junction City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<7>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- Junction City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Junction City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0283, Longitude: -96.8372    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025