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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 have occurred.

Another variation: Rockwell.

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 southeast 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 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.

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 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)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dellvale
      • Dellvale is located in Norton County
    • Oronoque
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oronoque
      • Oronoque is located in Norton County
    • 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.<2> 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
    • Norton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
    • Lenora
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lenora have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
    • Edmond
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edmond have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Almena have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Densmore
      • Densmore is located in Norton County
  • 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)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norcatur
      • Norcatur is located in Decatur County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
    • Jennings
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennings
      • Jennings is located in Decatur County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 90 people
    • Kanona
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kanona have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanona
      • Kanona is located in Decatur County
    • Allison ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Allison have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allison
      • Allison is located in Decatur County
    • Dresden
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Oberlin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oberlin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
    • Leoville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leoville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leoville
      • Leoville is located in Decatur County
  • Graham County
    • Roscoe
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscoe
      • Roscoe is located in Graham County
  • 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)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie View
      • Prairie View is located in Phillips County
      • 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)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Island
      • Long Island is located in Phillips County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
  • Riley County
    • Clayton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
      • Clayton is located in Riley County
  • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wilsonville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
    • Hendley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hendley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
    • Beaver City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Hollinger
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hollinger have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollinger
      • Hollinger is located in Furnas County (NE)
  • 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)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lebanon
      • Lebanon is located in Red Willow County (NE)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 76 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lebanon <3>
    • Danbury
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danbury
      • Danbury is located in Red Willow County (NE)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Danbury <3>

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Rockwell City, see our County-by-County Page for 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]<4>. 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 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:

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.

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 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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Grove Cemetery
  • Oronoque Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oronoque Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oronoque Cemetery
  • Norcatur Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Norcatur Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Norcatur Cemetery
  • Clayton Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Clayton Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<4> to the southeast of Clayton.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clayton Cemetery
  • Cope Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cope Cemetery
  • 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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gettis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gettis Cemetery
  • Railsback Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Railsback Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Railsback Cemetery
  • Prairie Gem Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prairie Gem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prairie Gem Cemetery
  • Norton Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Butler Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • The Butler Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Crystal Twp. Cemetery
    • Deal Cemetery
    • Watton Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Butler Cemetery
  • Continue List   (63 more) ...
    • Wotton Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wotton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wotton Cemetery
    • Devizes Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Devizes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Devizes Cemetery
    • White Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the White Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the White Cemetery

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)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dellvale
    • Dellvale is located in Norton County
  • Oronoque
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oronoque
    • Oronoque is located in Norton County
  • Norcatur
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norcatur
    • Norcatur is located in Decatur County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
  • 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.<2> 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
  • Norton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
  • Devizes
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Devizes have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devizes
    • Devizes is located in Norton County
  • Lyle
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyle have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyle
    • Lyle is located in Decatur County
  • Jennings
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennings
    • Jennings is located in Decatur County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 90 people
  • Lenora
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lenora have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
  • New Almelo
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Almelo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Almelo
    • New Almelo is located in Norton County
  • Kanona
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kanona have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanona
    • Kanona is located in Decatur County
  • Calvert
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Calvert have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvert
    • Calvert is located in Norton County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Lebanon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lebanon
      • Lebanon is located in Red Willow County (NE)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 76 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lebanon <3>
    • Edmond
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edmond have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
    • Wilsonville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wilsonville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>

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.

The official website for Norton County: www.nortoncountyks.org/

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

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>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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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- Rockwell City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rockwell City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.8333, Longitude: -100.0837       In this case, the coordinates for Rockwell City have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024