RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Kansas >> Norton County >> Oronoque >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Kansas

The Commemorative Quarter for Kansas





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 Oronoque (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 Oronoque. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Oronoque is located in Norton 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 Norton County: Decatur, Graham, Phillips, Sheridan, Furnas (NE) & Harlan (NE).

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

  • Norton County     (The home county of Oronoque)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oronoque, with the one closest to Oronoque listed first.
    • Dellvale
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Rockwell City ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rockwell City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwell City
      • Rockwell City is located in Norton County
    • Norton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norton
      • Norton is located in Norton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,709 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norton <2>
    • Clayton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clayton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
      • Clayton is located in Norton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
    • Lenora
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lenora have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenora
      • Lenora is located in Norton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lenora <2>
    • Edmond
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edmond have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmond
      • Edmond is located in Norton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
      • Edmond has also been known as:
      • Edmond City
    • Almena
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Almena have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
      • Almena is located in Norton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 376 people
    • Densmore
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Decatur County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oronoque, with the one closest to Oronoque listed first.
    • Norcatur
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Lyle
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lyle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyle
      • Lyle is located in Decatur County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lyle
      • From Oronoque to Lyle
    • Jennings
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Allison ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Allison. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allison
      • Allison is located in Decatur County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Allison
      • From Oronoque to Allison
    • Kanona
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kanona. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanona
      • Kanona is located in Decatur County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kanona
      • From Oronoque to Kanona
    • Dresden
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Oberlin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oberlin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oberlin
      • Oberlin is located in Decatur County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,669 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oberlin <2>
    • Leoville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leoville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leoville
      • Leoville is located in Decatur County
  • Graham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oronoque, with the one closest to Oronoque listed first.
    • Smithfield
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Smithfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithfield
      • Smithfield is located in Graham County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Smithfield
      • From Oronoque to Smithfield
    • Roscoe
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Roscoe. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscoe
      • Roscoe is located in Graham County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Roscoe
      • From Oronoque to Roscoe
    • Hill City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hill City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill City
      • Hill City is located in Graham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,354 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hill City <2>
    • Morland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morland
      • Morland is located in Graham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 143 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Morland <2>
    • Penokee
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Phillips County
  • Riley County
  • Sheridan County
  • Furnas County (NE)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oronoque, with the one closest to Oronoque listed first.
    • Wilsonville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wilsonville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilsonville
      • Wilsonville is located in Furnas County (NE)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wilsonville <2>
    • Hendley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hendley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hendley
      • Hendley is located in Furnas County (NE)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hendley <2>
    • Beaver City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hollinger
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hollinger. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollinger
      • Hollinger is located in Furnas County (NE)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hollinger
      • From Oronoque to Hollinger
  • Red Willow County (NE)

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

Cemeteries Near Oronoque ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oronoque.

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

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

  • Oronoque Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oronoque Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oronoque Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cope Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cope Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Prairie Gem Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prairie Gem Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prairie Gem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maple Grove Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Clayton Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Norton Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Norcatur Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Norcatur Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Norcatur Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gettis Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gettis Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gettis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Shirley Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Lenora East Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lenora East Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lenora East Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wray Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Lenora South Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lenora South Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lenora South Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (65 more) ...
    • Modell Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Modell Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Modell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Railsback Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Railsback Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Railsback Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Devizes Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Devizes Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Devizes 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 in 1895, Oronoque had a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Dellvale
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Rockwell City ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rockwell City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwell City
    • Rockwell City is located in Norton County
  • Norton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norton
    • Norton is located in Norton County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,709 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norton <2>
  • Clayton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clayton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
    • Clayton is located in Norton County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
  • Norcatur
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Lenora
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lenora have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenora
    • Lenora is located in Norton County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lenora <2>
  • New Almelo
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Almelo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Almelo
    • New Almelo is located in Norton County
  • Calvert
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Calvert have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvert
    • Calvert is located in Norton County
  • Devizes
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Devizes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devizes
    • Devizes is located in Norton County
  • Edmond
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edmond have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmond
    • Edmond is located in Norton County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
    • Edmond has also been known as:
    • Edmond City
  • Lyle
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lyle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyle
    • Lyle is located in Decatur County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Lyle
    • From Oronoque to Lyle
  • Jennings
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Densmore
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Almena
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Almena have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
      • Almena is located in Norton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 376 people
    • Allison ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Allison. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allison
      • Allison is located in Decatur County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Allison
      • From Oronoque to Allison

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Oronoque ...

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 139 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oronoque.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Oronoque. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Oronoque and those printed in the larger area surrounding Oronoque.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Oronoque.

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 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 Oronoque:

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

The official website for Norton County: www.nortoncountyks.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>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- Oronoque) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Oronoque. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7891, Longitude: -100.0267    
<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 Oronoque, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025