RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Kansas >> Rawlins County >> North Atwood >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 North Atwood (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 North Atwood. 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.

Name Variations for North Atwood ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for North Atwood: N. Atwood

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 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 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.

North Atwood 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 North Atwood. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to North Atwood:

  • Rawlins County     (The home county of North Atwood)
    • The following are listed by their distance from North Atwood, with the one closest to North Atwood listed first.
    • Atwood
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Ludell
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Ludell is located in Rawlins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludell
    • Beardsley
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Beardsley is located in Rawlins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beardsley
    • Herndon
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Herndon is located in Rawlins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herndon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
    • McDonald
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • McDonald is located in Rawlins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDonald
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
  • Cheyenne County
    • Bird City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Decatur County
    • The following are listed by their distance from North Atwood, with the one closest to North Atwood listed first.
    • Traer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Traer is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Traer
    • Oberlin
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Thomas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from North Atwood, with the one closest to North Atwood listed first.
    • Gem
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Gem is located in Thomas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gem
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
    • Rexford
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Colby
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Dundy County (NE)
    • The following are listed by their distance from North Atwood, with the one closest to North Atwood listed first.
    • Max
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Benkelman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Hitchcock County (NE)
    • The following are listed by their distance from North Atwood, with the one closest to North Atwood listed first.
    • Trenton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • 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>
    • Stratton
      (24 miles [38.6 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>
    • Culbertson
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near North Atwood ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of North Atwood.

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 North Atwood - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Mt. Calvary Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Blakeman Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Rose Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Immanuel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Cyril Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Hamper Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Enterprise Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Immaculate Conception Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Chardon Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Covenant Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (42 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>

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

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

  • Atwood
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Blakeman
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Blakeman is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blakeman
  • Ludell
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Ludell is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludell
  • Beardsley
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Beardsley is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beardsley
  • Chardon
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Chardon is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chardon
  • Achilles
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Achilles is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Achilles
  • Cornell ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Cornell is located in Hitchcock County (NE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornell
  • Herndon
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Herndon is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herndon
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
  • McDonald
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • McDonald is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDonald
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
  • Traer
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Traer is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Traer
  • Stratton
    (24 miles [38.6 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>
  • Trenton
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • 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>
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Bird City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Oberlin
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Cedar Bluffs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Cedar Bluffs is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluffs

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

Newspapers Published in North Atwood ...

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 97 newspapers that have been published in the area around North Atwood.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of North Atwood, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for North Atwood.

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 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 North Atwood:

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