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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 Merrick (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 Merrick. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Merrick is located in Lyon 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 Lyon County: Chase, Coffey, Greenwood, Morris, Osage & Wabaunsee.

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

  • Lyon County     (The home county of Merrick)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merrick, with the one closest to Merrick listed first.
    • Berkeley Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berkeley Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkeley Hills
      • Berkeley Hills is located in Lyon County
    • Emporia
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Emporia Junction
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emporia Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emporia Junction
      • Emporia Junction is located in Lyon County
    • Plymouth
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plymouth have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth
      • Plymouth is located in Lyon County
    • Americus
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Lang
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lang. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lang
      • Lang is located in Lyon County
      • Lang has also been known as:
      • Hortonville
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lang
      • From Merrick to Lang
    • Olpe
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olpe have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olpe
      • Olpe is located in Lyon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 530 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Olpe <2>
    • Neosho Rapids
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Hartford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hartford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartford
      • Hartford is located in Lyon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 368 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hartford <2>
    • Bushong
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bushong have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushong
      • Bushong is located in Lyon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 33 people
    • Allen
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Allen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
      • Allen is located in Lyon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 169 people
    • Reading
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reading have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reading
      • Reading is located in Lyon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 225 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Reading <2>
  • Chase County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merrick, with the one closest to Merrick listed first.
    • Toledo
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Toledo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toledo
      • Toledo is located in Chase County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Toledo
      • From Merrick to Toledo
    • Saffordville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Ellinor
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ellinor. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellinor
      • Ellinor is located in Chase County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ellinor
      • From Merrick to Ellinor
    • Gladstone
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gladstone have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladstone
      • Gladstone is located in Chase County
    • Strong City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Strong City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strong City
      • Strong City is located in Chase County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 446 people
      • Strong City has also been known as:
      • Strong
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Strong City <2>
    • Cottonwood Falls
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cottonwood Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood Falls
      • Cottonwood Falls is located in Chase County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 845 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cottonwood Falls <2>
    • Bazaar
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Neva
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Neva. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neva
      • Neva is located in Chase County
      • Neva has also been known as:
      • Neva Station
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Neva
      • From Merrick to Neva
    • Elmdale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elmdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmdale
      • Elmdale is located in Chase County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 51 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elmdale <2>
    • Rockland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rockland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockland
      • Rockland is located in Chase County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rockland
      • From Merrick to Rockland
    • Matfield Green
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Hymer
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hymer. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hymer
      • Hymer is located in Chase County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hymer
      • From Merrick to Hymer
  • Coffey County
  • Greenwood County
  • Morris County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merrick, with the one closest to Merrick listed first.
    • Dunlap
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dunlap have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunlap
      • Dunlap is located in Morris County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 29 people
    • Council Grove
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Helmick
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helmick
      • Helmick is located in Morris County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Helmick
      • From Merrick to Helmick
    • Kelso
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelso
      • Kelso is located in Morris County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kelso
      • From Merrick to Kelso
    • Wilsey
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Downing ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • 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
    • Diamond Springs ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Osage County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merrick, with the one closest to Merrick listed first.
    • Barclay
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Olivet
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Osage City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Osage City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osage City
      • Osage City is located in Osage County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,765 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Osage City <2>
    • Peterton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Peterton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peterton
      • Peterton is located in Osage County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Peterton
      • From Merrick to Peterton
  • Wabaunsee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merrick, with the one closest to Merrick listed first.
    • Wilmington
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wilmington. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmington
      • Wilmington is located in Wabaunsee County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wilmington
      • From Merrick to Wilmington
    • Harveyville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harveyville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harveyville
      • Harveyville is located in Wabaunsee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 246 people

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

Cemeteries Near Merrick ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Merrick.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Merrick, with the one closest to Merrick 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.<5>

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

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

  • Emporia
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Emporia Junction
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emporia Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emporia Junction
    • Emporia Junction is located in Lyon County
  • Plymouth
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plymouth have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth
    • Plymouth is located in Lyon County
  • Toledo
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Toledo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toledo
    • Toledo is located in Chase County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Toledo
    • From Merrick to Toledo
  • Americus
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Saffordville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Lang
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lang. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lang
    • Lang is located in Lyon County
    • Lang has also been known as:
    • Hortonville
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Lang
    • From Merrick to Lang
  • Ellinor
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ellinor. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellinor
    • Ellinor is located in Chase County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Ellinor
    • From Merrick to Ellinor
  • Olpe
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olpe have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olpe
    • Olpe is located in Lyon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 530 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Olpe <2>
  • Neosho Rapids
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Dunlap
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dunlap have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunlap
    • Dunlap is located in Morris County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 29 people
  • Gladstone
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gladstone have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladstone
    • Gladstone is located in Chase County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Strong City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Strong City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strong City
      • Strong City is located in Chase County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 446 people
      • Strong City has also been known as:
      • Strong
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Strong City <2>
    • Hartford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hartford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartford
      • Hartford is located in Lyon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 368 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hartford <2>
    • Bushong
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bushong have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushong
      • Bushong is located in Lyon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 33 people

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

Newspapers Published in Merrick ...

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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Merrick.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Merrick, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Merrick.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Merrick:

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

The official website for Lyon County: www.lyoncounty.org/

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>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 Merrick, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Merrick) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Merrick. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.4017, Longitude: -96.2443       In this case, the coordinates for Merrick have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 13 Jul 2025