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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 Sayre (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 Sayre. 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 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.

Sayre is located in Ford 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 Ford County: Clark, Edwards, Gray, Hodgeman, Kiowa & Meade.

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

  • Ford County     (The home county of Sayre)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sayre, with the one closest to Sayre listed first.
    • Howell
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Howell is located in Ford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howell
    • Dodge City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Fort Dodge
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Fort Dodge is located in Ford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Dodge
    • Wilroads Gardens
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Wilroads Gardens is located in Ford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilroads Gardens
    • Wilroads
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Wilroads is located in Ford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilroads
    • Wright
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Wright is located in Ford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright
    • Bloom
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Bloom is located in Ford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloom
    • Ford
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Spearville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Spearville is located in Ford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spearville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 766 people
    • Windhorst
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Windhorst is located in Ford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windhorst
    • Windthorst
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Windthorst is located in Ford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windthorst
  • Clark County
    • Minneola
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Finney County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sayre, with the one closest to Sayre listed first.
    • Kalvesta
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Kalvesta is located in Finney County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kalvesta
    • Pierceville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Pierceville is located in Finney County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierceville
  • Gray County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sayre, with the one closest to Sayre listed first.
    • Ensign
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Ensign is located in Gray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ensign
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
    • Wettick
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Wettick is located in Gray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wettick
    • Cimarron
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Montezuma
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Ingalls
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Ingalls is located in Gray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingalls
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 284 people
    • Charleston
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Charleston is located in Gray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charleston
    • Copeland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Meade County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sayre, with the one closest to Sayre listed first.
    • Fowler
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Meade
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Meade is located in Meade County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meade
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,519 people
      • Meade has also been known as:
      • Meade City
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Meade <1>
    • Missler
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Missler is located in Meade County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Missler

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

Cemeteries Near Sayre ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sayre.

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 Sayre - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Sayre covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Johnson Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Ensign Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Concord Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Maple Grove Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Greencrest Memorial Garden
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Christ the King Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Cave Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Ridenour Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Cimarron Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cimarron Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Cimarron Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Cimarron.
    • The Cimarron Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Cimarron Twp. Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #939547 <2>
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Kansas Veterans' Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • McCauley Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (22 more) ...
    • Wilburn Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Pleasant Vale Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • St. Michaels Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)

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.<4>

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

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

  • Ensign
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Ensign is located in Gray County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ensign
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
  • Howell
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Howell is located in Ford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howell
  • South Dodge
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • South Dodge is located in Ford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Dodge
  • Dodge City
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Cimarron
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Wilroads
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Wilroads is located in Ford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilroads
  • Montezuma
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Wright
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Wright is located in Ford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright
  • Ingalls
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Ingalls is located in Gray County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingalls
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 284 people
  • Minneola
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Bloom
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Bloom is located in Ford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloom
  • Fowler
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Ford
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Charleston
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Charleston is located in Gray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charleston
    • Kingsdown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Kingsdown is located in Ford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsdown

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

Newspapers Published in Sayre ...

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 89 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sayre.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sayre, 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 Sayre.

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 Sayre:

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 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.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Sayre) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 Sayre, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.