Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
So far, we found very little information about Rockwell City. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Rockwell City to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Rockwell City, please Contact Us.
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 Rockwell City (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 Rockwell City. 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.
Name Variations for Rockwell City ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
Another variation: Rockwell.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Rockwell City. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Rockwell City.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
Neighboring Counties ...
When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.
For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.
So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived: their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.
If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.
Although our information shows that the community of Rockwell City is historic, it would have been located within present day Norton County.
To see how the shape of Kansas' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Norton County: Decatur, Graham, Phillips, Sheridan, Furnas (NE) & Harlan (NE).
Below are the counties that are near Rockwell City. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Rockwell City:
- Norton County (The home county of Rockwell City)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rockwell City, with the one closest to Rockwell City listed first.
- Dellvale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Dellvale is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dellvale
- Oronoque
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Oronoque is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oronoque
- Clayton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Clayton is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
- Norton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Lenora
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Edmond
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Edmond is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmond
- Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
- Edmond has also been known as:
- Edmond City
- Almena
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Almena is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
- Population from the 2020 Census: 376 people
- Densmore
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Densmore is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Densmore
- Decatur County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rockwell City, with the one closest to Rockwell City listed first.
- Norcatur
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Norcatur is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norcatur
- Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
- Lyle
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Lyle is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyle
- Jennings
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Jennings is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennings
- Population from the 2020 Census: 90 people
- Kanona
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Kanona is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanona
- Allison ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Allison is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allison
- Dresden
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Oberlin
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Leoville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Leoville is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leoville
- Graham County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rockwell City, with the one closest to Rockwell City listed first.
- Smithfield
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Smithfield is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithfield
- Roscoe
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Roscoe is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscoe
- Phillips County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rockwell City, with the one closest to Rockwell City listed first.
- Prairie View
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Prairie View is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie View
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
- Logan
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Long Island
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Long Island is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Island
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
- Furnas County (NE)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rockwell City, with the one closest to Rockwell City listed first.
- Wilsonville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Hendley
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Beaver City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Hollinger
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Hollinger is located in Furnas County (NE)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollinger
- Red Willow County (NE)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rockwell City, with the one closest to Rockwell City listed first.
- Lebanon
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Danbury
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Rockwell City, see our County-by-County Page for Rockwell City.
Cemeteries Near Rockwell City ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rockwell City.
This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.
Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Rockwell City - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Rockwell City covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Rockwell City, with the one closest to Rockwell City listed first.
- Maple Grove Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Oronoque Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Norcatur Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Clayton Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Clayton Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<3> to the northwest of Clayton.
- Cope Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Shirley Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Wray Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Gettis Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Railsback Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Prairie Gem Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Norton Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Butler Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler Cemetery
- The Butler Cemetery has also been known as:
- Crystal Twp. Cemetery
- Deal Cemetery
- Watton Cemetery
- Continue List (63 more) ...
- Wotton Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Devizes Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- White Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
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.
Rockwell City itself is historic and was described in the Rand McNally Atlas as having a population of 36 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Rockwell City, with the one closest to Rockwell City listed first.
- Dellvale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Dellvale is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dellvale
- Oronoque
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Oronoque is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oronoque
- Norcatur
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Norcatur is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norcatur
- Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
- Clayton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Clayton is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
- Norton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Devizes
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Devizes is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devizes
- Lyle
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Lyle is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyle
- Jennings
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Jennings is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennings
- Population from the 2020 Census: 90 people
- Lenora
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- New Almelo
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- New Almelo is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Almelo
- Kanona
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Kanona is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanona
- Calvert
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Calvert is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvert
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Lebanon
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Edmond
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Edmond is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmond
- Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
- Edmond has also been known as:
- Edmond City
- Wilsonville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Rockwell City. See our List of 1890's Communities around Rockwell City.
Newspapers Published in Rockwell City ...
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 112 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rockwell City.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rockwell City, 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 Rockwell City.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites 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 Rockwell City:
- Websites specific to Kansas
- Pages specific to Norton County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Decatur County
- Graham County
- Phillips County
- Furnas County
- Red Willow County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Kansas
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Rockwell City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 drawn from Point A (ie- Rockwell City) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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. |