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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 Wakefield (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 Wakefield. 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 and hospitals 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.

Wakefield is located in Clay 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 Clay County: Cloud, Dickinson, Geary, Ottawa, Riley & Washington.

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

  • Clay County     (The home county of Wakefield)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wakefield, with the one closest to Wakefield listed first.
    • Broughton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Broughton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broughton
      • Broughton is located in Clay County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Broughton
      • From Wakefield to Broughton
    • Ladysmith
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ladysmith. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladysmith
      • Ladysmith is located in Clay County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ladysmith
      • From Wakefield to Ladysmith
    • Industry
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Clay Center
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Green
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Idana
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Idana. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idana
      • Idana is located in Clay County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Idana
      • From Wakefield to Idana
    • Longford
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Oak Hill
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Morganville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Browndale
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Browndale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browndale
      • Browndale is located in Clay County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Browndale
      • From Wakefield to Browndale
    • Oscar ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oscar have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oscar
      • Oscar is located in Clay County
    • Garfield Center
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Vining
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vining have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vining
      • Vining is located in Clay County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
  • Cloud County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wakefield, with the one closest to Wakefield listed first.
    • Miltonvale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Saint Joseph
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Dickinson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wakefield, with the one closest to Wakefield listed first.
    • Upland
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Upland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upland
      • Upland is located in Dickinson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Upland
      • From Wakefield to Upland
    • Buckeye
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Chapman
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Manchester
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Talmage
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Detroit
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Enterprise
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Abilene
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Lyona
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lyona. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyona
      • Lyona is located in Dickinson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lyona
      • From Wakefield to Lyona
    • Acme
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Acme. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acme
      • Acme is located in Dickinson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Acme
      • From Wakefield to Acme
    • Solomon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Navarre
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Navarre have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navarre
      • Navarre is located in Dickinson County
    • Woodbine
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodbine have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodbine
      • Woodbine is located in Dickinson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 163 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Woodbine <2>
  • Geary County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wakefield, with the one closest to Wakefield listed first.
    • Milford
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Alida
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alida. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alida
      • Alida is located in Geary County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Alida
      • From Wakefield to Alida
    • Junction City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Kansas Falls
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Grandview Plaza
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grandview Plaza have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview Plaza
      • Grandview Plaza is located in Geary County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,553 people
    • Wreford
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wreford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wreford
      • Wreford is located in Geary County
  • Morris County
    • Skiddy ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skiddy have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skiddy
      • Skiddy is located in Morris County
  • Ottawa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wakefield, with the one closest to Wakefield listed first.
    • Vine Creek
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Vine Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vine Creek
      • Vine Creek is located in Ottawa County
      • Former name for Vine Creek:
      • Vine
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Vine Creek
      • From Wakefield to Vine Creek
    • Ackley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Niles
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Wells
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Verdi
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Lamar
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lamar. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamar
      • Lamar is located in Ottawa County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lamar
      • From Wakefield to Lamar
  • Pottawatomie County
    • Olsburg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olsburg
      • Olsburg is located in Pottawatomie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 223 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Olsburg <2>
  • Riley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wakefield, with the one closest to Wakefield listed first.
    • Bala
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Riley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Lasita ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lasita have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lasita
      • Lasita is located in Riley County
    • Leonardville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Keats
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Walsburg
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Walsburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walsburg
      • Walsburg is located in Riley County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Walsburg
      • From Wakefield to Walsburg
    • Ogden
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • May Day
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Eureka Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eureka Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka Lake
      • Eureka Lake is located in Riley County
    • Randolph
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Winkler
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Winkler. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winkler
      • Winkler is located in Riley County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Winkler
      • From Wakefield to Winkler
    • Ashland ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ashland came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland
      • Ashland is located in Riley County
      • Ashland has also been known as:
      • Ashland Bottoms
    • Manhattan
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wakefield, with the one closest to Wakefield listed first.
    • Kimeo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kimeo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimeo
      • Kimeo is located in Washington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kimeo
      • From Wakefield to Kimeo
    • Chepstow
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chepstow. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chepstow
      • Chepstow is located in Washington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Chepstow
      • From Wakefield to Chepstow
    • Clifton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Palmer
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near Wakefield ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wakefield.

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 Wakefield covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Highland Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Highland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Timber Creek Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Timber Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Timber Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Madura Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Madura Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Madura Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Uniondale Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Barry Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Barry Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Barry Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gilbert Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gilbert Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gilbert Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Milford Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Branscom Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Branscom Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Branscom Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bala Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Athelstane Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Athelstane Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Athelstane Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Broughton Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (146 more) ...
    • Liberty Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Alida Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Alida Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Alida Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Laid Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Laid Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Laid Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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.<7>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Wakefield had a population of 241 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Wakefield had a population of 920 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Wakefield ...

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 74 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wakefield.

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

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 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 Wakefield:

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

The official website for Clay County: www.claycountyks.org/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<5>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- Wakefield) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wakefield. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2157, Longitude: -97.0147    
<6>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.
<7>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 Wakefield, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025