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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Kiro (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 Kiro. 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 and 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.

Kiro is located in Shawnee 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 Shawnee County: Douglas, Jackson, Jefferson, Osage, Pottawatomie & Wabaunsee.

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

  • Shawnee County     (The home county of Kiro)
  • Atchison County
    • Arrington
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kiro, with the one closest to Kiro listed first.
    • Big Springs
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Grover
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Stull
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Stull is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stull
    • Lecompton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Kanwaka
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Kanwaka is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanwaka
      • Kanwaka has also been known as:
      • Kanawha
      • Kannaka
      • Kanwaca
    • Clinton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Lone Star
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Lone Star is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
    • Lawrence
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Midland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Midland is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midland
    • Globe
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Jackson County
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kiro, with the one closest to Kiro listed first.
    • Grantville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Grantville is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantville
    • Meriden
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Hilldale South
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Hilldale South is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilldale South
    • Lake Ridge
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Lake Ridge is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ridge
    • Newman
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Rock Creek
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Hilldale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • West Shore
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • West Shore is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Shore
    • Thompsonville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Indian Ridge
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Indian Ridge is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Ridge
    • Lakeside Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Lakeside Village is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside Village
    • Medina
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
  • Osage County
  • Pottawatomie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kiro, with the one closest to Kiro listed first.
    • Saint Marys
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Emmett
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Emmett is located in Pottawatomie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmett
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 187 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Emmett <1>
    • Belvue
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Belvue is located in Pottawatomie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belvue
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 204 people
    • Saint Clere
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Aikins
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Wamego
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Wamego is located in Pottawatomie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wamego
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,718 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wamego <1>
    • Louisville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Louisville is located in Pottawatomie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisville
      • 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>
  • Wabaunsee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kiro, with the one closest to Kiro listed first.
    • Maple Hill
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Vera
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Paxico
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Harveyville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Harveyville is located in Wabaunsee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harveyville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 246 people
    • Eskridge
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • McFarland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • McFarland is located in Wabaunsee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McFarland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 250 people
    • Wilmington
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Alma
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Alma is located in Wabaunsee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 776 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alma <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Kiro ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Kiro.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Kiro, with the one closest to Kiro 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.<4>

While we didn't find Kiro in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Kiro.

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

  • Menoken
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Menoken is located in Shawnee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menoken
  • Silver Lake
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Valencia
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Valencia is located in Shawnee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valencia
  • Elmont
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Elmont is located in Shawnee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmont
  • Topeka
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • North Topeka
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Willard
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Willard is located in Shawnee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willard
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 88 people
  • Oakland
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Rossville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Pauline
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Dover
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Tecumseh
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Hoyt
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Hoyt is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoyt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 629 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hoyt <1>
    • Grantville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Grantville is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantville
    • Maple Hill
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Kiro ...

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 115 newspapers that have been published in the area around Kiro.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Kiro, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Kiro.

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 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 Kiro:

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Kiro) 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 Kiro, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.