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Home >> State of Kansas >> Shawnee County >> Terra Heights >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Terra Heights (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 Terra Heights. 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.

Name Variations for Terra Heights ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Terra Heights: Terra Hts. (in Canada, 'Hgts.' is the more common abbreviation.)

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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.

Terra Heights is located in Shawnee 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 Shawnee County: Douglas, Jackson, Jefferson, Osage, Pottawatomie & Wabaunsee.

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

  • Shawnee County     (The home county of Terra Heights)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Terra Heights, with the one closest to Terra Heights listed first.
    • Pauline
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Pauline is located in Shawnee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pauline
    • Cullen Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Cullen Village is located in Shawnee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cullen Village
    • Highland Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Highland Park is located in Shawnee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Park
    • Berryton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Berryton is located in Shawnee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryton
    • Topeka
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Topeka is located in Shawnee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topeka
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 124,558 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Topeka <1>
    • Watson
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Watson is located in Shawnee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watson
    • North Topeka
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • North Topeka is located in Shawnee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Topeka
    • Oakland
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Oakland is located in Shawnee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
    • Tecumseh
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Auburn
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Auburn is located in Shawnee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,203 people
    • Spencer
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Spencer is located in Shawnee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spencer
    • Kiro
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Kiro is located in Shawnee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kiro
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Terra Heights, with the one closest to Terra Heights listed first.
    • Big Springs
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Big Springs is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Springs
    • Stull
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Stull is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stull
    • Grover
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Grover is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grover
    • Clinton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Clinton is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton
    • Kanwaka
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Kanwaka is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanwaka
      • Kanwaka has also been known as:
      • Kanawha
      • Kannaka
      • Kanwaca
    • Lecompton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Lone Star
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Lone Star is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
    • Globe
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Globe is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe
    • Lawrence
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Midland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Midland is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midland
    • Pleasant Grove
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Pleasant Grove is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
    • Worden
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Worden is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worden
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Terra Heights, with the one closest to Terra Heights listed first.
    • Centropolis
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Centropolis is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centropolis
    • Pomona
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Norwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Norwood is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
    • Richter
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Richter is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richter
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Terra Heights, with the one closest to Terra Heights listed first.
    • Hoyt
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Hoyt is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoyt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 629 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hoyt <1>
    • Delia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Delia is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 176 people
    • Mayetta
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Denison
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Birmingham
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Birmingham is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birmingham
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Terra Heights, with the one closest to Terra Heights listed first.
    • Grantville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Grantville is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantville
    • Newman
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Newman is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newman
    • Meriden
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Medina
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Medina is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medina
    • Thompsonville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Thompsonville is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompsonville
    • Hilldale South
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Hilldale South is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilldale South
    • Lake Ridge
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Lake Ridge is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ridge
    • Perry
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Perry is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perry
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 908 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perry <1>
    • Hilldale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Hilldale is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilldale
    • West Shore
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • West Shore is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Shore
    • Williamstown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Williamstown is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamstown
    • Lakeside Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Lakeside Village is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside Village
  • Leavenworth County
    • Fall Leaf
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Fall Leaf is located in Leavenworth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall Leaf
  • Lyon County
    • Miller
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Miller is located in Lyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miller
  • Osage County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Terra Heights, with the one closest to Terra Heights listed first.
    • Mineral Springs
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Mineral Springs is located in Osage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Springs
    • Carbondale
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Carbondale is located in Osage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbondale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,347 people
    • Scranton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Overbrook
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Burlingame
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Burlingame is located in Osage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlingame
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 884 people
      • Former name for Burlingame:
      • American Settlement
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Burlingame <1>
    • Peterton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Peterton is located in Osage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peterton
    • Vassar
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Osage City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Lyndon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Quenemo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Quenemo is located in Osage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quenemo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 372 people
      • Quenemo has also been known as:
      • Quenemo Agency
    • Barclay
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Barclay is located in Osage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barclay
  • Pottawatomie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Terra Heights, with the one closest to Terra Heights listed first.
    • Saint Marys
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Emmett
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Emmett is located in Pottawatomie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmett
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 187 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Emmett <1>
  • Wabaunsee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Terra Heights, with the one closest to Terra Heights listed first.
    • Harveyville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Harveyville is located in Wabaunsee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harveyville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 246 people
    • Maple Hill
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Wilmington
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Wilmington is located in Wabaunsee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmington
    • Vera
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Vera is located in Wabaunsee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vera
    • Eskridge
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Eskridge is located in Wabaunsee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eskridge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 502 people
    • Paxico
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • McFarland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • McFarland is located in Wabaunsee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McFarland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 250 people

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

Cemeteries Near Terra Heights ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Terra Heights.

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 Terra Heights - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Foster Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Lynn Creek Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Mt. Auburn Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Topeka Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topeka Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Topeka Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Topeka.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #93916 <2>
  • Elevation Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Somervell Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Emmanuel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Bauer Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Mt. Hope Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Hope Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mt. Hope Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Topeka.
    • The Mt. Hope Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Fairlawn Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #93131 <2>
  • Mission Center Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Topeka State Hospital Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (153 more) ...

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.<3>

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

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

  • Pauline
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Pauline is located in Shawnee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pauline
  • Berryton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Berryton is located in Shawnee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryton
  • Topeka
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Topeka is located in Shawnee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topeka
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 124,558 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Topeka <1>
  • Wakarusa
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Watson
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Watson is located in Shawnee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watson
  • Oakland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Oakland is located in Shawnee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
  • North Topeka
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • North Topeka is located in Shawnee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Topeka
  • Tecumseh
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Auburn
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Auburn is located in Shawnee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburn
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,203 people
  • Menoken
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Menoken is located in Shawnee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menoken
  • Spencer
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Spencer is located in Shawnee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spencer
  • Grantville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Grantville is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantville
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Carbondale
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Carbondale is located in Osage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbondale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,347 people
    • Richland
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Richland is located in Shawnee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland
    • Big Springs
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Big Springs is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Springs

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

Newspapers Published in Terra Heights ...

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 221 newspapers that have been published in the area around Terra Heights.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Terra Heights, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Terra Heights.

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 Terra Heights:

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