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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 Riga (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 Riga. 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.

Riga is located in Trego 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 Trego County: Ellis, Gove, Graham, Ness, Rooks, Rush & Sheridan.

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

  • Trego County     (The home county of Riga)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riga, with the one closest to Riga listed first.
    • Ogallah
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogallah
      • Ogallah is located in Trego County
    • Trego
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trego have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trego
      • Trego is located in Trego County
      • Trego has also been known as:
      • Trego Center
      • Trego Tank
    • WaKeeney
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Collyer
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Collyer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collyer
      • Collyer is located in Trego County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
  • Ellis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riga, with the one closest to Riga listed first.
    • Ellis
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Hog Back
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hog Back have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hog Back
      • Hog Back is located in Ellis County
    • Yocemento
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yocemento have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yocemento
      • Yocemento is located in Ellis County
    • Hays
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hays
      • Hays is located in Ellis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,829 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hays <2>
    • Antonino
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Antonino have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antonino
      • Antonino is located in Ellis County
    • Munjor
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Munjor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munjor
      • Munjor is located in Ellis County
    • Catharine
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Catharine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catharine
      • Catharine is located in Ellis County
      • Catharine has also been known as:
      • Catherine
    • Schoenchen
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Schoenchen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schoenchen
      • Schoenchen is located in Ellis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
    • Emmeram
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emmeram have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmeram
      • Emmeram is located in Ellis County
    • Victoria
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Victoria have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victoria
      • Victoria is located in Ellis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,215 people
    • Pfeifer
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pfeifer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pfeifer
      • Pfeifer is located in Ellis County
  • Graham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riga, with the one closest to Riga listed first.
    • Bogue
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bogue
      • Bogue is located in Graham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 131 people
      • Bogue has also been known as:
      • Wildhorse
    • Saint Peter
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Peter have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Peter
      • Saint Peter is located in Graham County
    • Hill City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • 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>
    • Nicodemus
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nicodemus have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicodemus
      • Nicodemus is located in Graham County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nicodemus <2>
  • Ness County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riga, with the one closest to Riga listed first.
    • Brownell
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Ransom
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Arnold
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arnold have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
      • Arnold is located in Ness County
  • Rooks County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riga, with the one closest to Riga listed first.
    • Palco
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palco
      • Palco is located in Rooks County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 262 people
    • Zurich
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Zurich have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zurich
      • Zurich is located in Rooks County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
    • Damar
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Plainville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Codell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Codell
      • Codell is located in Rooks County
      • Former name for Codell:
      • Florreyville
  • Rush County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riga, with the one closest to Riga listed first.
    • McCracken
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McCracken have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCracken
      • McCracken is located in Rush County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 171 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McCracken <2>
    • Liebenthal
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liebenthal have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liebenthal
      • Liebenthal is located in Rush County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 91 people
    • Hargrave
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hargrave have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hargrave
      • Hargrave is located in Rush County

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

Newspapers Published in Riga ...

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 85 newspapers that have been published in the area around Riga.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Riga, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Riga.

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 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 Riga:

Cemeteries Near Riga ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Riga.

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

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

  • Oglala Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oglala Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oglala Cemetery
  • Mt. Hope Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Hope Cemetery
  • St. Mary's Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Mary's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Mary's Cemetery
  • Emanuel Lutheran Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Emanuel Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Emanuel Lutheran Cemetery
  • Christ the King Catholic Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Christ the King Catholic Cemetery is located outside and to the southeast of WaKeeney.
    • The Christ the King Catholic Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Wakeeney Catholic Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Christ the King Catholic Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2150688 <4>
  • Christ the King Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Christ the King Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Christ the King Cemetery
  • Kansas Veterans Cemetery at Wakeeney
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Wakeeney City Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Wakeeney City Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of WaKeeney.
    • The Wakeeney City Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Wakeeney Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wakeeney City Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #94009 <4>
  • Zion Lutheran Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Lutheran Cemetery
  • Ft. Hays Memorial Gardens
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ft. Hays Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ft. Hays Memorial Gardens
  • Hyacinth Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hyacinth Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hyacinth Cemetery
  • St. Andrew Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Andrew Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Andrew Cemetery
  • Continue List   (52 more) ...
    • Ft. Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ft. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ft. Cemetery
    • Mt. Allen Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Allen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Allen Cemetery
    • St. Joseph Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 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.<5>

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

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

  • Ellis
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Ogallah
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogallah
    • Ogallah is located in Trego County
  • Hog Back
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hog Back have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hog Back
    • Hog Back is located in Ellis County
  • WaKeeney
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Hays
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hays
    • Hays is located in Ellis County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,829 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hays <2>
  • Palco
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palco
    • Palco is located in Rooks County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 262 people
  • Brownell
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
  • Munjor
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Munjor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munjor
    • Munjor is located in Ellis County
  • Zurich
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Zurich have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zurich
    • Zurich is located in Rooks County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
  • Toulon
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Toulon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toulon
    • Toulon is located in Ellis County
  • Catharine
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Catharine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catharine
    • Catharine is located in Ellis County
    • Catharine has also been known as:
    • Catherine
  • Turkville
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turkville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkville
    • Turkville is located in Ellis County
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • McCracken
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McCracken have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCracken
      • McCracken is located in Rush County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 171 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McCracken <2>
    • Damar
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Collyer
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Collyer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collyer
      • Collyer is located in Trego County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people

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

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

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>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 from Point A (ie- Riga) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Riga. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9506, Longitude: -99.6504       In this case, the coordinates for Riga have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Riga, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024