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 West Shore (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 West Shore. 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 West Shore ...
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 West Shore: W. Shore
You might be interested in other communities that are also named West Shore. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for West Shore.
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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and 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.
West Shore is located in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County: Atchison, Douglas, Jackson, Leavenworth & Shawnee.
Below are the counties that are near West Shore. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to West Shore:
- Jefferson County (The home county of West Shore)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Shore, with the one closest to West Shore listed first.
- Hilldale South
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Hilldale South is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilldale South
- Hilldale
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Hilldale is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilldale
- Lake Ridge
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Lake Ridge is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ridge
- Indian Ridge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Indian Ridge is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Ridge
- Lakeside Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Lakeside Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside Village
- Ozawkie
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Lake Shore
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Shore is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Shore
- Meriden
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Rock Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Rock Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek
- Thompsonville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Thompsonville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompsonville
- Newman
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Newman is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newman
- Grantville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Grantville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantville
- Atchison County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Shore, with the one closest to West Shore listed first.
- Arrington
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Arrington is located in Atchison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrington
- Arrington has also been known as:
- Arrington Mineral Springs
- Arrington Springs
- Cummings
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cummings is located in Atchison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cummings
- Effingham
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Farmington
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Farmington is located in Atchison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmington
- Monrovia
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Monrovia is located in Atchison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monrovia
- Potter
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Potter is located in Atchison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potter
- Muscotah
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Muscotah is located in Atchison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscotah
- Population from the 2020 Census: 165 people
- Lancaster
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Lancaster is located in Atchison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 282 people
- Oak Mills
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Oak Mills is located in Atchison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Mills
- Port Williams
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Port Williams is located in Atchison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Williams
- Port Williams has also been known as:
- Williamsport
- Douglas County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Shore, with the one closest to West Shore listed first.
- Grover
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Grover is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grover
- Lecompton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Big Springs
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Big Springs is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Springs
- Kanwaka
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Kanwaka is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanwaka
- Kanwaka has also been known as:
- Kanawha
- Kannaka
- Kanwaca
- Stull
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Stull is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stull
- Midland
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Midland is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midland
- Clinton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Clinton is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton
- Lawrence
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Bismarck Grove ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Bismarck Grove is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bismarck Grove
- Lone Star
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Lone Star is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
- Noria
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Noria is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noria
- Pleasant Grove
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Pleasant Grove is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Shore, with the one closest to West Shore listed first.
- Hoyt
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Denison
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Mayetta
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Birmingham
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Birmingham is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birmingham
- Larkinburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Larkinburg is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larkinburg
- Holton
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Delia
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Delia is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 176 people
- Whiting
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Whiting is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiting
- Population from the 2020 Census: 183 people
- Circleville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Johnson County
- Clearview City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Clearview City is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearview City
- Leavenworth County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Shore, with the one closest to West Shore listed first.
- Springdale
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Springdale is located in Leavenworth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springdale
- Jarbalo
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Jarbalo is located in Leavenworth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jarbalo
- Tonganoxie
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Easton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Easton is located in Leavenworth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 256 people
- Former name for Easton:
- Eastin
- Fall Leaf
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Fall Leaf is located in Leavenworth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall Leaf
- Hoge
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Hoge is located in Leavenworth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoge
- Lowemont
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Lowemont is located in Leavenworth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowemont
- Linwood
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Linwood is located in Leavenworth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 433 people
- Linwood has also been known as:
- Big Stranger
- Johnny Cake
- Journeycake
- Basehor
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Fairmount
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Fairmount is located in Leavenworth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount
- Fairmount has also been known as:
- Fairmont Village
- Leavenworth
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Kickapoo
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Kickapoo is located in Leavenworth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kickapoo
- Osage County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Shore, with the one closest to West Shore listed first.
- Mineral Springs
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Mineral Springs is located in Osage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Springs
- Overbrook
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Carbondale
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Carbondale is located in Osage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbondale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,347 people
- Shawnee County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Shore, with the one closest to West Shore listed first.
- Spencer
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Spencer is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spencer
- Tecumseh
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- North Topeka
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- North Topeka is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Topeka
- Oakland
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Oakland is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
- Watson
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Watson is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watson
- Topeka
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Highland Park
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Highland Park is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Park
- Berryton
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Berryton is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryton
- Kiro
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Kiro is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kiro
- Pauline
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Pauline is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pauline
- Cullen Village
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Cullen Village is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cullen Village
- Richland
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Richland is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland
- Wabaunsee County
- Maple Hill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Wyandotte County
- Wallula
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Wallula is located in Wyandotte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallula
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to West Shore, see our County-by-County Page for West Shore.
Cemeteries Near West Shore ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Shore.
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 West Shore - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for West Shore covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Shore, with the one closest to West Shore listed first.
- Olive Branch Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Ozawkie Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ozawkie Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Ozawkie Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<2> to the southeast of Ozawkie.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #828264 <3>
- Meriden Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- St. Aloysius Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Newman Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Fairview Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Grantville Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Old Grantville Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Medina Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Mt. Calvary Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Oak Ridge Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Buster Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (202 more) ...
- Pleasant View Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Bloomfield Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomfield Cemetery
- The Bloomfield Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Paul United Brethren Cemetery
- Farrar Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
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>
While we didn't find West Shore in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of West Shore.
These communities are listed based on their distance from West Shore, with the one closest to West Shore listed first.
- Ozawkie
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Meriden
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Rock Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Rock Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek
- Thompsonville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Thompsonville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompsonville
- Newman
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Newman is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newman
- Grantville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Grantville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantville
- Grover
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Grover is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grover
- Medina
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Medina is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medina
- Perry
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Oskaloosa
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Spencer
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Spencer is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spencer
- Dunavant
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Dunavant is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunavant
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Valley Falls
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Valley Falls is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Falls
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,152 people
- Valley Falls has also been known as:
- Sautrelle
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Valley Falls <1>
- Tecumseh
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Williamstown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Williamstown is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamstown
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around West Shore. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Shore.
Newspapers Published in West Shore ...
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 127 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Shore.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Shore, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Shore.
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 West Shore:
- Websites specific to Kansas
- Pages specific to Jefferson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Atchison County
- Douglas County
- Jackson County
- Johnson County
- Leavenworth County
- Osage County
- Shawnee County
- Wabaunsee County
- Wyandotte 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- West Shore) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 West Shore, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |