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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 Rolla (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 Rolla. 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 northwest 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 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 west 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.

Rolla is located in Morton 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 Morton County: Baca (CO), Stanton, Stevens, Cimarron (OK) & Texas (OK).

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

  • Morton County     (The home county of Rolla)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rolla, with the one closest to Rolla listed first.
    • Richfield
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richfield
      • Richfield is located in Morton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35 people
    • Elkhart
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elkhart have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhart
      • Elkhart is located in Morton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,727 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elkhart <2>
  • Stanton County
    • Platt City ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Platt City. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platt City
      • Platt City is located in Stanton County
      • Platt City has also been known as:
      • Platt
  • Stevens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rolla, with the one closest to Rolla listed first.
    • Hugoton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hugoton
      • Hugoton is located in Stevens County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,678 people
      • Former name for Hugoton:
      • Hugo
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hugoton <2>
    • Moscow
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moscow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
      • Moscow is located in Stevens County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 294 people
      • Former name for Moscow:
      • Mosco
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moscow <2>
  • Texas County (OK)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rolla, with the one closest to Rolla listed first.
    • Straight
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Straight
      • Straight is located in Texas County (OK)
    • Hooker
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
      • Hooker is located in Texas County (OK)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,843 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hooker <2>
    • Optima
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Optima have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Optima
      • Optima is located in Texas County (OK)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 371 people
    • Guymon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guymon
      • Guymon is located in Texas County (OK)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,010 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Guymon <2>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Rolla ...

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 36 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rolla.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Rolla. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Rolla and those printed in the larger area surrounding Rolla.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Rolla.

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 Rolla:

Cemeteries Near Rolla ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rolla.

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

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

  • Rolla Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rolla Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rolla Cemetery
  • Prairie Flower Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prairie Flower Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prairie Flower Cemetery
  • Barden Memorial Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Richfield Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Richfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Richfield Cemetery
  • Camp Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Camp Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Camp Cemetery
  • Kuhn Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Hugoton Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hugoton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hugoton Cemetery
  • Dermot Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dermot Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dermot Cemetery
  • Cosmos Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Lee Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lee Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lee Cemetery
  • Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
  • Liverpool Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Liverpool Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Liverpool Cemetery
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Bethel Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Cemetery
    • Zionville Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zionville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zionville Cemetery
    • Golden Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Golden Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Golden 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.<6>

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

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

  • Richfield
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richfield
    • Richfield is located in Morton County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 35 people
  • Hugoton
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hugoton
    • Hugoton is located in Stevens County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,678 people
    • Former name for Hugoton:
    • Hugo
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hugoton <2>
  • Moscow
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moscow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
    • Moscow is located in Stevens County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 294 people
    • Former name for Moscow:
    • Mosco
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moscow <2>

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

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

The official website for Morton County: www.mtcoks.com/

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>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>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- Rolla) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rolla. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1180, Longitude: -101.6318       In this case, the coordinates for Rolla 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.
<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 Rolla, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024