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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 Waco (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 Waco. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Waco is located in Sedgwick 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 Sedgwick County: Butler, Cowley, Harvey, Kingman, Reno & Sumner.

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

  • Sedgwick County     (The home county of Waco)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
    • Wego-Waco
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Wego-Waco is located in Sedgwick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wego-Waco
    • Derby
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Derby is located in Sedgwick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,145 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Derby <1>
    • Haysville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Mulvane
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Peck
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Murray Gill
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Murray Gill is located in Sedgwick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murray Gill
    • Bayneville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Bayneville is located in Sedgwick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayneville
    • Oatville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Oatville is located in Sedgwick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oatville
    • Clearwater
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Eastborough
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Eastborough is located in Sedgwick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastborough
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 730 people
    • Wichita
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Cow Town
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Cow Town is located in Sedgwick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cow Town
  • Butler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
    • Rose Hill
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Andover
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Andover is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andover
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,672 people
      • Andover has also been known as:
      • Cloud City
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Andover <1>
    • Prairie Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Prairie Village is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Village
    • Salter
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Salter is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salter
    • Douglass
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Gordon
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Gordon is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
    • Lorena
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Lorena is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lorena
    • Sunset Acres
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Sunset Acres is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Acres
    • Bois d'Arc
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Bois d'Arc is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bois d'Arc
    • Augusta
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Benton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Smileyville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Smileyville is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smileyville
  • Cowley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
    • Udall
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Rock
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Dale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Dale is located in Cowley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
    • Akron
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Akron is located in Cowley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Akron
    • Kellogg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Kellogg is located in Cowley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellogg
    • Floral
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Floral is located in Cowley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floral
    • Wilmot
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Wilmot is located in Cowley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmot
    • Hackney
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Hackney is located in Cowley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackney
    • Rainbow Bend
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Rainbow Bend is located in Cowley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainbow Bend
    • New Salem
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • New Salem is located in Cowley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Salem
    • Winfield
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Tresham
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Tresham is located in Cowley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tresham
  • Harvey County
    • Sedgwick
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Kingman County
    • Norwich
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Reno County
    • Saint Joe
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Saint Joe is located in Reno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Joe
  • Sumner County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
    • Belle Plaine
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Cicero
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Cicero is located in Sumner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cicero
    • Millerton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Millerton is located in Sumner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
    • Anson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Anson is located in Sumner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anson
    • Wellington
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Oxford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Oxford is located in Sumner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 988 people
      • Former name for Oxford:
      • Hapawalla
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oxford <1>
    • Roland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Roland is located in Sumner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roland
    • Conway Springs
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Paton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Paton is located in Sumner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paton
    • Mayfield
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Mayfield is located in Sumner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 104 people
    • Ewell
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Ewell is located in Sumner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ewell
    • Milton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Milton is located in Sumner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton

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

Cemeteries Near Waco ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Waco.

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 Waco - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Waco Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • El Paso Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Prairie Garden Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Roll Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Hillcrest Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Noel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Mulvane Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulvane Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mulvane Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #93165 <2>
  • Littleton Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Eastridge Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Union Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Branson Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (132 more) ...
    • Porter Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Belle Plaine Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Reflection Point Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Waco had a population of 41 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Derby
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Derby is located in Sedgwick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,145 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Derby <1>
  • Haysville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Peck
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Mulvane
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Zyba
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Zyba is located in Sumner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zyba
    • Zyba has also been known as:
    • Zuba
    • Zyber
  • Bayneville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Bayneville is located in Sedgwick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayneville
  • Belle Plaine
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Oatville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Oatville is located in Sedgwick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oatville
  • Riverdale
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Riverdale is located in Sumner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverdale
  • Rose Hill
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Clearwater
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Wichita
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Cicero
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Cicero is located in Sumner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cicero
    • Udall
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Minneha
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Minneha is located in Sedgwick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minneha

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

Newspapers Published in Waco ...

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 84 newspapers that have been published in the area around Waco.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Waco, 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 Waco.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Waco:

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 Waco, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Waco) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.