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 Sun 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 Sun 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.

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 and 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.

Sun City is located in Barber 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 Barber County: Comanche, Harper, Kingman, Kiowa, Pratt, Alfalfa (OK) & Woods (OK).

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

• Barber County     (The home county of Sun City)
  • The following are listed by their distance from Sun City, with the one closest to Sun City listed first.
  • Lake City
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
    • Lake City is located in Barber County
  • Deerhead
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Deerhead. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerhead
    • Deerhead is located in Barber County
  • Forest City ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
    • Forest City is located in Barber County
  • Mingona
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mingona. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mingona
    • Mingona is located in Barber County
  • Elm Mills
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elm Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Mills
    • Elm Mills is located in Barber County
  • Medicine Lodge
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medicine Lodge
    • Medicine Lodge is located in Barber County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,804 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Medicine Lodge <3>
  • Isabel
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Isabel have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabel
    • Isabel is located in Barber County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
  • Aetna ‑ Historic
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aetna
    • Aetna is located in Barber County
  • Eldred ‑ Historic
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Eldred. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldred
    • Eldred is located in Barber County
  • Pixley
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pixley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pixley
    • Pixley is located in Barber County
  • Gerlane
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gerlane. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gerlane
    • Gerlane is located in Barber County
  • Sharon
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sharon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon
    • Sharon is located in Barber County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
    • Former name for Sharon:
    • Bible Valley
• Comanche County
  • The following are listed by their distance from Sun City, with the one closest to Sun City listed first.
  • Wilmore
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmore
    • Wilmore is located in Comanche County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 47 people
  • Coldwater
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldwater
    • Coldwater is located in Comanche County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 733 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coldwater <3>
  • Buttermilk
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buttermilk
    • Buttermilk is located in Comanche County
• Kingman County
  • Nashville
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashville
    • Nashville is located in Kingman County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
• Kiowa County
  • The following are listed by their distance from Sun City, with the one closest to Sun City listed first.
  • Belvidere
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belvidere
    • Belvidere is located in Kiowa County
  • Wellsford
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsford
    • Wellsford is located in Kiowa County
  • Haviland
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Haviland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haviland
    • Haviland is located in Kiowa County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 664 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Haviland <3>
  • Brenham ‑ Historic
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brenham. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brenham
    • Brenham is located in Kiowa County
  • Greensburg
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Greensburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greensburg
    • Greensburg is located in Kiowa County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 779 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greensburg <3>
• Pratt County
  • The following are listed by their distance from Sun City, with the one closest to Sun City listed first.
  • Coats
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coats have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coats
    • Coats is located in Pratt County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
  • Sawyer
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawyer
    • Sawyer is located in Pratt County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
  • Cullison
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cullison
    • Cullison is located in Pratt County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
  • Pratt
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt
    • Pratt is located in Pratt County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,463 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pratt <3>
  • Iuka
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iuka have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iuka
    • Iuka is located in Pratt County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
  • Natrona
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Natrona. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natrona
    • Natrona is located in Pratt County
  • Cairo
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo
    • Cairo is located in Pratt County
  • Byers
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Byers have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byers
    • Byers is located in Pratt County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 33 people
• Woods County (OK)
  • Winchester
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Winchester. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winchester
    • Winchester is located in Woods County (OK)

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

Cemeteries Near Sun City ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sun 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 Sun City covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

• Sunnyside Cemetery
  (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunnyside Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunnyside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Chinn Cemetery
  (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chinn Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chinn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Belvidere Cemetery
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Belvidere Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Belvidere Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Soldier Creek Cemetery
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Soldier Creek Cemetery
• East Slope Cemetery
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Slope Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Slope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Coats Cemetery
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Coats Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Coats Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Wyman Cemetery
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wyman Cemetery
• Jenkins Cemetery
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jenkins Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jenkins Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Boles Cemetery
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Boles Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Boles Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• John Jesse Gravesite
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the John Jesse Gravesite
• Ruddick Cemetery
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ruddick Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ruddick Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Powell Twp. Cemetery
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Powell Twp. Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Powell Twp. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Continue List   (36 more) ...
  • Wellsford Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wellsford Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wellsford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ellenwood Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ellenwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ellenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pleasant View Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant View Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Sun City had a population of 100 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Sun City had a population of 47 people.

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

• Lake City
  (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
  • Lake City is located in Barber County
• Springvale
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springvale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springvale
  • Springvale is located in Pratt County
  • Springvale has also been known as:
  • Springdale
• Deerhead
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Deerhead. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerhead
  • Deerhead is located in Barber County
• Coats
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coats have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coats
  • Coats is located in Pratt County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
• Belvidere
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belvidere
  • Belvidere is located in Kiowa County
• Mingona
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mingona. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mingona
  • Mingona is located in Barber County
• Elm Mills
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elm Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Mills
  • Elm Mills is located in Barber County
• Sawyer
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawyer
  • Sawyer is located in Pratt County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
• Wilmore
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmore
  • Wilmore is located in Comanche County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 47 people
• Wellsford
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsford
  • Wellsford is located in Kiowa County
• Cullison
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cullison
  • Cullison is located in Pratt County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
• Medicine Lodge
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medicine Lodge
  • Medicine Lodge is located in Barber County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,804 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Medicine Lodge <3>
• Continue List   (14 more) ...
  • Haviland
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Haviland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haviland
    • Haviland is located in Kiowa County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 664 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Haviland <3>
  • Aetna ‑ Historic
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aetna
    • Aetna is located in Barber County
  • Isabel
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Isabel have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabel
    • Isabel is located in Barber County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people

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

Newspapers Published in Sun 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 87 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sun City.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sun City, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sun City.

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 Sun City:

• Websites specific to Kansas
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Website for the Kansas Historical Society

• Pages specific to Barber County
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Genealogy information for nearby counties
  • Comanche County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Kingman County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Kiowa County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Pratt County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Woods County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Cemetery Information and Directories for Kansas
  • Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of Kansas
  • Cyndi's List
  • Cemeteries of Kansas
  • Cemeteries of Barber County
  • FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of Kansas
  • Find-A-Grave: Home Page
  • Interment.net
  • Cemeteries of Kansas
  • Cemeteries of Barber County

Off-the-Road Links ...

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

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