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 Sparks (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 Sparks. 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.
Sparks is located in Doniphan 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 Doniphan County: Atchison, Brown, Andrew (MO), Buchanan (MO), Holt (MO) & Richardson (NE).
Below are the counties that are near Sparks. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Sparks:
- Doniphan County (The home county of Sparks)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sparks, with the one closest to Sparks listed first.
- Fanning
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Fanning is located in Doniphan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fanning
- Highland
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Iowa Point
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Iowa Point is located in Doniphan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa Point
- Moray
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Moray is located in Doniphan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moray
- Severance
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Severance is located in Doniphan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Severance
- Population from the 2020 Census: 88 people
- Bendena
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Bendena is located in Doniphan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bendena
- Troy
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Troy is located in Doniphan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 946 people
- Leona
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Leona is located in Doniphan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leona
- Population from the 2020 Census: 50 people
- Brenner
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Brenner is located in Doniphan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brenner
- Denton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- White Cloud
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- White Cloud is located in Doniphan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Cloud
- Population from the 2020 Census: 165 people
- Blair
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Blair is located in Doniphan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blair
- Palermo
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Palermo is located in Doniphan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palermo
- Atchison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sparks, with the one closest to Sparks listed first.
- Goodintent ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Goodintent is located in Atchison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodintent
- Huron
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Huron is located in Atchison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron
- Population from the 2020 Census: 73 people
- Atchison
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Lancaster
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Lancaster is located in Atchison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 282 people
- Farmington
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Farmington is located in Atchison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmington
- Monrovia
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Monrovia is located in Atchison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monrovia
- Effingham
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Cummings
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Cummings is located in Atchison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cummings
- Muscotah
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Muscotah is located in Atchison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscotah
- Population from the 2020 Census: 165 people
- Port Williams
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Port Williams is located in Atchison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Williams
- Port Williams has also been known as:
- Williamsport
- Potter
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Potter is located in Atchison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potter
- Oak Mills
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Oak Mills is located in Atchison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Mills
- Brown County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sparks, with the one closest to Sparks listed first.
- Robinson
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Robinson is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 223 people
- Everest
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Hiawatha
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Willis
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Willis is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willis
- Population from the 2020 Census: 36 people
- Padonia
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Padonia is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Padonia
- Baker ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Baker is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baker
- Reserve
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Reserve is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reserve
- Population from the 2020 Census: 81 people
- Horton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Hamlin
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Hamlin is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 35 people
- Hamlin has also been known as:
- Hamilton
- Mercier
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Mercier is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercier
- Powhattan
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Powhattan is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powhattan
- Population from the 2020 Census: 72 people
- Morrill
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Morrill is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 225 people
- Sun Springs
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Sun Springs is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Springs
- Jackson County
- Whiting
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Whiting is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiting
- Population from the 2020 Census: 183 people
- Andrew County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sparks, with the one closest to Sparks listed first.
- Nodaway
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Nodaway is located in Andrew County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nodaway
- Amazonia
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Amazonia is located in Andrew County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amazonia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 320 people
- Fillmore
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Fillmore is located in Andrew County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fillmore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 188 people
- Country Club
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Country Club is located in Andrew County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Club
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,530 people
- Savannah
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Avenue City ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Avenue City is located in Andrew County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avenue City
- Rosendale
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Wyeth ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Wyeth is located in Andrew County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyeth
- Bolckow
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Bolckow is located in Andrew County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolckow
- Population from the 2020 Census: 187 people
- Rea
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Rea is located in Andrew County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rea
- Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
- Cosby
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Cosby is located in Andrew County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cosby
- Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
- Rochester ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Rochester is located in Andrew County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester
- Helena
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Helena is located in Andrew County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
- Buchanan County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sparks, with the one closest to Sparks listed first.
- Saint Joseph
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Rushville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Lewis and Clark Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Lewis and Clark Village is located in Buchanan County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis and Clark Village
- Population from the 2020 Census: 127 people
- De Kalb
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- De Kalb is located in Buchanan County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Kalb
- Population from the 2020 Census: 222 people
- Matney
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Matney is located in Buchanan County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matney
- Saxton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Saxton is located in Buchanan County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saxton
- Willow Brook
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Willow Brook is located in Buchanan County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Brook
- Faucett
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Agency
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Easton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Easton is located in Buchanan County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 233 people
- Holt County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sparks, with the one closest to Sparks listed first.
- Forbes
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Forbes is located in Holt County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forbes
- Forest City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Oregon
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- New Point
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- New Point is located in Holt County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Point
- Fortescue
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Fortescue is located in Holt County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fortescue
- Population from the 2020 Census: 28 people
- Big Lake
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Big Lake is located in Holt County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 138 people
- Bigelow
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Bigelow is located in Holt County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bigelow
- Population from the 2020 Census: 23 people
- Mound City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Maitland
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Maitland is located in Holt County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maitland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 296 people
- Craig
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Corning
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Corning is located in Holt County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corning
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13 people
- Nodaway County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sparks, with the one closest to Sparks listed first.
- Graham
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Graham is located in Nodaway County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 153 people
- Barnard
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Skidmore
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Platte County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sparks, with the one closest to Sparks listed first.
- Sugar Lake
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Sugar Lake is located in Platte County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Lake
- Iatan
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Iatan is located in Platte County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iatan
- Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
- Richardson County (NE)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sparks, with the one closest to Sparks listed first.
- Rulo
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Rulo is located in Richardson County (NE)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rulo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rulo <1>
- Preston
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Preston is located in Richardson County (NE)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 26 people
- Arago ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Arago is located in Richardson County (NE)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arago
- Falls City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Straussville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Straussville is located in Richardson County (NE)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Straussville
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Sparks, see our County-by-County Page for Sparks.
Cemeteries Near Sparks ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sparks.
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 Sparks - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Sparks covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Sparks, with the one closest to Sparks listed first.
- Iola Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Fanning Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Wolf River Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Highland Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Iowa Point Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Martin Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Burrell Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Oak Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Forbes Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mt. Olive Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- St. Charles Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bitner Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Continue List (234 more) ...
- Vickery Family Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Courter - Ritchey Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Charleston Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 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.<2>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Sparks had a post office and railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Sparks, with the one closest to Sparks listed first.
- Fanning
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Fanning is located in Doniphan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fanning
- Highland
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Iowa Point
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Iowa Point is located in Doniphan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa Point
- Curzon
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Curzon is located in Holt County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curzon
- Severance
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Severance is located in Doniphan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Severance
- Population from the 2020 Census: 88 people
- Forbes
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Forbes is located in Holt County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forbes
- Bendena
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Bendena is located in Doniphan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bendena
- Troy
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Troy is located in Doniphan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 946 people
- Leona
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Leona is located in Doniphan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leona
- Population from the 2020 Census: 50 people
- Forest City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Denton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Brenner
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Brenner is located in Doniphan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brenner
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Oregon
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- White Cloud
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- White Cloud is located in Doniphan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Cloud
- Population from the 2020 Census: 165 people
- Robinson
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Robinson is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 223 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Sparks. See our List of 1890's Communities around Sparks.
Newspapers Published in Sparks ...
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 207 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sparks.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sparks, 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 Sparks.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Sparks:
- Websites specific to Kansas
- Pages specific to Doniphan County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Atchison County
- Brown County
- Jackson County
- Andrew County
- Buchanan County
- Holt County
- Nodaway County
- Platte County
- Richardson County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Kansas
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> | 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 Sparks, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sparks) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |