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 Speed (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 Speed. 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 doctors 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.
Speed is located in Phillips 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 Phillips County: Graham, Norton, Rooks, Smith, Franklin (NE) & Harlan (NE).
Below are the counties that are near Speed. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Speed:
- Phillips County (The home county of Speed)
- The following are listed by their distance from Speed, with the one closest to Speed listed first.
- Glade
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Glade is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glade
- Population from the 2020 Census: 89 people
- Phillipsburg
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Logan
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Stuttgart
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Stuttgart is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stuttgart
- Prairie View
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Prairie View is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie View
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
- Kirwin
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Agra
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Agra is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agra
- Population from the 2020 Census: 238 people
- Long Island
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Long Island is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Island
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
- Graham County
- The following are listed by their distance from Speed, with the one closest to Speed listed first.
- Nicodemus
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Roscoe
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Roscoe is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscoe
- Smithfield
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Smithfield is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithfield
- Bogue
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Bogue is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bogue
- Population from the 2020 Census: 131 people
- Bogue has also been known as:
- Wildhorse
- Norton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Speed, with the one closest to Speed listed first.
- Densmore
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Densmore is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Densmore
- Almena
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Almena is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
- Population from the 2020 Census: 376 people
- Edmond
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- 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
- Norton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Osborne County
- Alton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Alton is located in Osborne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 92 people
- Rooks County
- The following are listed by their distance from Speed, with the one closest to Speed listed first.
- Webster
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Webster is located in Rooks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
- Stockton
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Stockton is located in Rooks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,234 people
- Former name for Stockton:
- Stocktown
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stockton <1>
- Woodston
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Woodston is located in Rooks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
- Woodston has also been known as:
- Woodston Saw
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Woodston <1>
- Damar
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Palco
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Palco is located in Rooks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palco
- Population from the 2020 Census: 262 people
- Zurich
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Zurich is located in Rooks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zurich
- Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
- Smith County
- The following are listed by their distance from Speed, with the one closest to Speed listed first.
- Claudell
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Claudell is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claudell
- Kensington
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Kensington is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kensington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 433 people
- Cedar
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Cedar is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13 people
- Athol
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Athol is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athol
- Population from the 2020 Census: 40 people
- Gaylord
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Harlan County (NE)
- Alma
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Alma is located in Harlan County (NE)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,116 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alma <1>
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Speed, see our County-by-County Page for Speed.
Cemeteries Near Speed ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Speed.
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 Speed - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Speed covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Speed, with the one closest to Speed listed first.
- Belmont Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Belmont Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Plainview Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Marvin Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- St. Peters Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Lockwood Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Fairview Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Pleasant View Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Emmanuel Lutheran Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Old Logan Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Bow Creek Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Hillsdale Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Continue List (84 more) ...
- Iowa Union Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Prairie Dale Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Prairie View 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.<2>
While we didn't find Speed in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Speed.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Speed, with the one closest to Speed listed first.
- Glade
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Glade is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glade
- Population from the 2020 Census: 89 people
- Phillipsburg
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Logan
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Stuttgart
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Stuttgart is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stuttgart
- Gretna
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Gretna is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gretna
- Prairie View
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Prairie View is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie View
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
- Kirwin
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Agra
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Agra is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agra
- Population from the 2020 Census: 238 people
- Densmore
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Densmore is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Densmore
- Webster
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Webster is located in Rooks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
- Stockton
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Stockton is located in Rooks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,234 people
- Former name for Stockton:
- Stocktown
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stockton <1>
- Long Island
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Long Island is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Island
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Woodruff
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Woodruff is located in Phillips County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodruff
- Kensington
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Kensington is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kensington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 433 people
- Almena
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Almena is located in Norton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
- Population from the 2020 Census: 376 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Speed. See our List of 1890's Communities around Speed.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Speed ...
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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Speed.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Speed. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Speed and those printed in the larger area surrounding Speed.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Speed.
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 professional and volunteer 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 Speed:
- Websites specific to Kansas
- Pages specific to Phillips County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Graham County
- Norton County
- Osborne County
- Rooks County
- Smith County
- Harlan 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 Speed, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Speed) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |