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 southwest 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 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.
Sun City is located in Barber 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 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)
- Lake City is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
- Deerhead
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Deerhead is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerhead
- Forest City ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Forest City is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
- Mingona
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Mingona is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mingona
- Elm Mills
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Elm Mills is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Mills
- Medicine Lodge
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Isabel
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Isabel is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabel
- Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
- Aetna ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Aetna is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aetna
- Eldred ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Eldred is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldred
- Pixley
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Pixley is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pixley
- Gerlane
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Gerlane is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gerlane
- Sharon
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Sharon is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon
- 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)
- Wilmore is located in Comanche County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 47 people
- Coldwater
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Buttermilk
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Buttermilk is located in Comanche County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buttermilk
- Kingman County
- Nashville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Nashville is located in Kingman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashville
- 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)
- Belvidere is located in Kiowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belvidere
- Wellsford
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Wellsford is located in Kiowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsford
- Haviland
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Brenham ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Brenham is located in Kiowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brenham
- Greensburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- 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)
- Coats is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coats
- Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
- Sawyer
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Sawyer is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawyer
- Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
- Cullison
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Cullison is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cullison
- Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
- Pratt
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Iuka
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Iuka is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iuka
- Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
- Natrona
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Natrona is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natrona
- Cairo
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Cairo is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo
- Byers
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Byers is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byers
- Population from the 2020 Census: 33 people
- Woods County (OK)
- Winchester
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Winchester is located in Woods County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winchester
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.
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 Sun City - one of the links might be able to help.
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)
- Chinn Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Belvidere Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Soldier Creek Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- East Slope Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Coats Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Wyman Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Jenkins Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Boles Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- John Jesse Gravesite
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Ruddick Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Powell Twp. Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Continue List (36 more) ...
- Wellsford Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Ellenwood Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Pleasant View Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
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 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)
- Lake City is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
- Springvale
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Springvale is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springvale
- Springvale has also been known as:
- Springdale
- Deerhead
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Deerhead is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerhead
- Coats
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Coats is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coats
- Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
- Belvidere
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Belvidere is located in Kiowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belvidere
- Mingona
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Mingona is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mingona
- Elm Mills
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Elm Mills is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Mills
- Sawyer
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Sawyer is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawyer
- Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
- Wilmore
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Wilmore is located in Comanche County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 47 people
- Wellsford
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Wellsford is located in Kiowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsford
- Cullison
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Cullison is located in Pratt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cullison
- Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
- Medicine Lodge
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Haviland
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Aetna ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Aetna is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aetna
- Isabel
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Isabel is located in Barber County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabel
- 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]<3>. 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 like to 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 Sun City:
- Websites specific to Kansas
- Pages specific to Barber County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Comanche County
- Kingman County
- Kiowa County
- Pratt County
- Woods 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 Sun City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Sun City) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |