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 Norton (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 Norton. 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.
Norton is located in Norton County and is the County Seat.
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 Norton County: Decatur, Graham, Phillips, Sheridan, Furnas (NE) & Harlan (NE).
Below are the counties that are near Norton. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Norton:
- Norton County (The home county of Norton)
- The following are listed by their distance from Norton, with the one closest to Norton listed first.
- Oronoque
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Oronoque is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oronoque
- Dellvale
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Dellvale is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dellvale
- Almena
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Almena is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
- Population from the 2020 Census: 376 people
- Rockwell City ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Rockwell City is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwell City
- Edmond
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Edmond is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmond
- Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
- Edmond has also been known as:
- Edmond City
- Densmore
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Densmore is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Densmore
- Lenora
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Clayton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Clayton is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
- Decatur County
- The following are listed by their distance from Norton, with the one closest to Norton listed first.
- Norcatur
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Norcatur is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norcatur
- Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
- Lyle
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Lyle is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyle
- Jennings
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Jennings is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennings
- Population from the 2020 Census: 90 people
- Allison ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Allison is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allison
- Kanona
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Kanona is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanona
- Graham County
- The following are listed by their distance from Norton, with the one closest to Norton listed first.
- Smithfield
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Smithfield is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithfield
- Roscoe
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Roscoe is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscoe
- Phillips County
- The following are listed by their distance from Norton, with the one closest to Norton listed first.
- Prairie View
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Prairie View is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie View
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
- Long Island
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Long Island is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Island
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
- Logan
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Stuttgart
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Stuttgart is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stuttgart
- Speed
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Speed is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speed
- Population from the 2020 Census: 34 people
- Phillipsburg
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Furnas County (NE)
- The following are listed by their distance from Norton, with the one closest to Norton listed first.
- Hendley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Beaver City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Wilsonville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Hollinger
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Hollinger is located in Furnas County (NE)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollinger
- Harlan County (NE)
- The following are listed by their distance from Norton, with the one closest to Norton listed first.
- Stamford
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Flynn Junction
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Flynn Junction is located in Harlan County (NE)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flynn Junction
- Orleans
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Red Willow County (NE)
- The following are listed by their distance from Norton, with the one closest to Norton listed first.
- Lebanon
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Danbury
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Norton, see our County-by-County Page for Norton.
Cemeteries Near Norton ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Norton.
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 Norton - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Norton covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Norton, with the one closest to Norton listed first.
- Norton Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Cope Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Oronoque Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mt. Hope Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Sheley Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Prairie Gem Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Maple Grove Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Carlson Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mt. Olive Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Zellmer Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Devizes Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Spring Green Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Continue List (63 more) ...
- Modell Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Edmond Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Farmingdale Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
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 Norton had a population of 1,074 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Norton had a population of 2,709 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Norton, with the one closest to Norton listed first.
- Oronoque
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Oronoque is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oronoque
- Calvert
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Calvert is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvert
- Dellvale
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Dellvale is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dellvale
- Almena
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Almena is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
- Population from the 2020 Census: 376 people
- Rockwell City ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Rockwell City is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwell City
- Devizes
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Devizes is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devizes
- Edmond
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Edmond is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmond
- Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
- Edmond has also been known as:
- Edmond City
- Densmore
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Densmore is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Densmore
- Norcatur
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Norcatur is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norcatur
- Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
- Clayton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Clayton is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
- Lenora
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Prairie View
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Prairie View is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie View
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Precept
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Precept is located in Furnas County (NE)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Precept
- Lyle
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Lyle is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyle
- Hendley
(20 miles [32.2 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 Norton. See our List of 1890's Communities around Norton.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Norton ...
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 149 newspapers that have been published in the area around Norton.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Norton. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Norton and those printed in the larger area surrounding Norton.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Norton.
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 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 Norton:
- Websites specific to Kansas
- Pages specific to Norton County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Decatur County
- Graham County
- Phillips County
- Furnas County
- Harlan County
- Red Willow County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Kansas
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 Norton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Norton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |