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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 Palmer (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 Palmer. 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 doctors and hospitals 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.

Palmer is located in Washington 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 Washington County: Clay, Cloud, Marshall, Republic, Riley, Gage (NE), Jefferson (NE) & Thayer (NE).

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

  • Washington County     (The home county of Palmer)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Palmer, with the one closest to Palmer listed first.
    • Linn
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Kimeo
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kimeo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimeo
      • Kimeo is located in Washington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kimeo
      • From Palmer to Kimeo
    • Clifton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Greenleaf
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenleaf have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenleaf
      • Greenleaf is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenleaf <1>
    • Chepstow
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chepstow. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chepstow
      • Chepstow is located in Washington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Chepstow
      • From Palmer to Chepstow
    • Brantford
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brantford. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brantford
      • Brantford is located in Washington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Brantford
      • From Palmer to Brantford
    • Washington
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Morrowville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Barnes
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Blocker ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Blocker. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blocker
      • Blocker is located in Washington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Blocker
      • From Palmer to Blocker
    • Haddam
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Haddam have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haddam
      • Haddam is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
      • Haddam has also been known as:
      • Haddam City
      • West Haddam
    • Hanover
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hanover have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanover
      • Hanover is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 650 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hanover <1>
    • Hollenberg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hollenberg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollenberg
      • Hollenberg is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 20 people
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Palmer, with the one closest to Palmer listed first.
    • Garfield Center
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Oscar ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oscar have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oscar
      • Oscar is located in Clay County
    • Vining
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vining have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vining
      • Vining is located in Clay County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
    • Morganville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Green
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Clay Center
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Idana
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Idana. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idana
      • Idana is located in Clay County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Idana
      • From Palmer to Idana
    • Broughton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Broughton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broughton
      • Broughton is located in Clay County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Broughton
      • From Palmer to Broughton
    • Browndale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Browndale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browndale
      • Browndale is located in Clay County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Browndale
      • From Palmer to Browndale
    • Ladysmith
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ladysmith. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladysmith
      • Ladysmith is located in Clay County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ladysmith
      • From Palmer to Ladysmith
    • Oak Hill
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Wakefield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Cloud County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Palmer, with the one closest to Palmer listed first.
    • Clyde
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clyde have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
      • Clyde is located in Cloud County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 647 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clyde <1>
    • Saint Joseph
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Ames
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Rice
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Aurora
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aurora have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
      • Aurora is located in Cloud County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
    • Miltonvale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Cook
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cook. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cook
      • Cook is located in Cloud County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cook
      • From Palmer to Cook
    • Huscher
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Concordia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Palmer, with the one closest to Palmer listed first.
    • Waterville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Blue Rapids
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blue Rapids have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Rapids
      • Blue Rapids is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 960 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blue Rapids <1>
    • Alcove Spring ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Bremen
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Irving ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Irving. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irving
      • Irving is located in Marshall County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Irving
      • From Palmer to Irving
    • Marysville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Republic County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Palmer, with the one closest to Palmer listed first.
    • Agenda
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Agenda have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agenda
      • Agenda is located in Republic County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
    • Cuba
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cuba have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba
      • Cuba is located in Republic County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 141 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cuba <1>
    • Narka
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Munden
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Belleville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belleville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleville
      • Belleville is located in Republic County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,841 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Belleville <1>
  • Riley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Palmer, with the one closest to Palmer listed first.
    • May Day
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Lasita ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lasita have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lasita
      • Lasita is located in Riley County
    • Winkler
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Winkler. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winkler
      • Winkler is located in Riley County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Winkler
      • From Palmer to Winkler
    • Leonardville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Bala
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Randolph
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Walsburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Walsburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walsburg
      • Walsburg is located in Riley County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Walsburg
      • From Palmer to Walsburg
    • Riley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Gage County (NE)
    • Lanham
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lanham. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanham
      • Lanham is located in Gage County (NE)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lanham
      • From Palmer to Lanham
  • Jefferson County (NE)

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

Cemeteries Near Palmer ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Palmer.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Palmer, with the one closest to Palmer 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Palmer had a population of 203 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Palmer had a population of 105 people.

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

  • Linn
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Clifton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Kimeo
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kimeo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimeo
    • Kimeo is located in Washington County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Kimeo
    • From Palmer to Kimeo
  • Strawberry
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Strawberry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry
    • Strawberry is located in Washington County
  • Vining
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vining have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vining
    • Vining is located in Clay County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
  • Enosdale
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Enosdale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enosdale
    • Enosdale is located in Washington County
  • Greenleaf
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenleaf have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenleaf
    • Greenleaf is located in Washington County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenleaf <1>
  • Morganville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Chepstow
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chepstow. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chepstow
    • Chepstow is located in Washington County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Chepstow
    • From Palmer to Chepstow
  • Brantford
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brantford. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brantford
    • Brantford is located in Washington County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Brantford
    • From Palmer to Brantford
  • Washington
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Clyde
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clyde have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
    • Clyde is located in Cloud County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 647 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clyde <1>
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Palmer ...

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 98 newspapers that have been published in the area around Palmer.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Palmer. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Palmer and those printed in the larger area surrounding Palmer.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5> of Palmer.

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 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 Palmer:

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

The official website for State of Kansas: https://portal.kansas.gov/

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>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.
<3>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.
<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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Palmer) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Palmer. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6321, Longitude: -97.1404    
<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 Palmer, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025