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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 Portland (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 Portland. 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 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 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.

Portland is located in Sumner 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 Sumner County: Butler, Cowley, Harper, Kingman, Sedgwick, Grant (OK) & Kay (OK).

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

  • Sumner County     (The home county of Portland)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Portland, with the one closest to Portland listed first.
    • South Haven
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Hunnewell
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hunnewell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunnewell
      • Hunnewell is located in Sumner County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
    • Geuda Springs
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Geuda Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geuda Springs
      • Geuda Springs is located in Sumner County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 176 people
    • Drury
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Drury. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drury
      • Drury is located in Sumner County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Drury
      • From Portland to Drury
    • Paton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Paton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paton
      • Paton is located in Sumner County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Paton
      • From Portland to Paton
    • Perth
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Perth. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perth
      • Perth is located in Sumner County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Perth
      • From Portland to Perth
    • Wellington
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Corbin
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Oxford
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Roland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Caldwell
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Cicero
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cicero. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cicero
      • Cicero is located in Sumner County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cicero
      • From Portland to Cicero
    • Mayfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mayfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayfield
      • Mayfield is located in Sumner County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 104 people
  • Cowley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Portland, with the one closest to Portland listed first.
    • Hackney
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hackney. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackney
      • Hackney is located in Cowley County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hackney
      • From Portland to Hackney
    • Rainbow Bend
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Moxham
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Moxham. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moxham
      • Moxham is located in Cowley County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Moxham
      • From Portland to Moxham
    • Arkansas City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Tresham
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tresham. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tresham
      • Tresham is located in Cowley County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Tresham
      • From Portland to Tresham
    • Kellogg
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kellogg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellogg
      • Kellogg is located in Cowley County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kellogg
      • From Portland to Kellogg
    • Parkerfield
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parkerfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkerfield
      • Parkerfield is located in Cowley County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 412 people
    • Winfield
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Silverdale
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silverdale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silverdale
      • Silverdale is located in Cowley County
    • Dale
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
      • Dale is located in Cowley County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Dale
      • From Portland to Dale
    • Akron
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Akron. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Akron
      • Akron is located in Cowley County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Akron
      • From Portland to Akron
    • Udall
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Udall have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Udall
      • Udall is located in Cowley County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 701 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Udall <1>
    • Cameron
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cameron. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
      • Cameron is located in Cowley County
      • Cameron has also been known as:
      • Cameron City
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cameron
      • From Portland to Cameron
  • Harper County
    • Bluff City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bluff City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City
      • Bluff City is located in Harper County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 58 people
  • Sedgwick County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Portland, with the one closest to Portland listed first.
    • Peck
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Mulvane
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mulvane have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulvane
      • Mulvane is located in Sedgwick County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,566 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mulvane <1>
    • Waco
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waco have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waco
      • Waco is located in Sedgwick County
    • Wego-Waco
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Grant County (OK)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Portland, with the one closest to Portland listed first.
    • Deer Creek
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deer Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
      • Deer Creek is located in Grant County (OK)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 127 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deer Creek <1>
    • Renfrow
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Lamont
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Medford
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Kay County (OK)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Portland, with the one closest to Portland listed first.
    • Braman
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Braman have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braman
      • Braman is located in Kay County (OK)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 202 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Braman <1>
    • Chilocco
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chilocco. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chilocco
      • Chilocco is located in Kay County (OK)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Chilocco
      • From Portland to Chilocco
    • Blackwell
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Newkirk
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Nardin
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nardin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nardin
      • Nardin is located in Kay County (OK)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nardin <1>
    • Kildare
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kildare have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kildare
      • Kildare is located in Kay County (OK)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
    • Tonkawa
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Cross ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cross. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross
      • Cross is located in Kay County (OK)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cross
      • From Portland to Cross
    • Ponca City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Portland ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Portland.

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

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

  • Forest Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rose Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Work Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Jordan Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jordan Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jordan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Hope Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Hope Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Plainview Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Plainview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Plainview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lolled Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lolled Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lolled Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Attebery Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Attebery Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Attebery Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Goedel Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Goedel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Goedel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • The Goedel Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Godel Cemetery
  • Gouda Springs Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gouda Springs Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gouda Springs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Braman Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Braman Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Braman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Triumph Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Triumph Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Triumph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (101 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Portland had a population of 53 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Ashton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ashton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashton
    • Ashton is located in Sumner County
  • South Haven
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Hunnewell
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hunnewell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunnewell
    • Hunnewell is located in Sumner County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
  • Drury
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Drury. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drury
    • Drury is located in Sumner County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Drury
    • From Portland to Drury
  • Geuda Springs
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Geuda Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geuda Springs
    • Geuda Springs is located in Sumner County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 176 people
  • Rome
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rome have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rome
    • Rome is located in Sumner County
  • Hackney
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hackney. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackney
    • Hackney is located in Cowley County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Hackney
    • From Portland to Hackney
  • Perth
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Perth. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perth
    • Perth is located in Sumner County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Perth
    • From Portland to Perth
  • Wellington
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Dalton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dalton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalton
    • Dalton is located in Sumner County
  • Corbin
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Chilocco
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chilocco. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chilocco
    • Chilocco is located in Kay County (OK)
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Chilocco
    • From Portland to Chilocco
  • 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 Portland. See our List of 1890's Communities around Portland.

Newspapers Published in Portland ...

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 107 newspapers that have been published in the area around Portland.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Portland, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Portland.

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 Portland:

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

The official website for Sumner County: www.co.sumner.ks.us/

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>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.
<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 Portland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Portland) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Portland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0776, Longitude: -97.3122       In this case, the coordinates for Portland have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025