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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 Austin (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 Austin. 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 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.

Austin is located in Cass County.

To see how the shape of Missouri's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Cass County: Johnson (KS), Miami (KS), Bates, Henry, Jackson & Johnson.

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

  • Cass County     (The home county of Austin)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Austin, with the one closest to Austin listed first.
    • Archie
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Garden City
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Harrisonville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Main City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Main City is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Main City
    • Creighton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • East Lynne
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Gunn City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Freeman
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Annette
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Lake Annette is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Annette
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
    • Coleman
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Peculiar
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • West Line
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Bates County
  • Henry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Austin, with the one closest to Austin listed first.
    • Urich
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Blairstown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Hartwell
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Hartwell is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartwell
    • Maurine
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Maurine is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maurine
    • Norris
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Montrose
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • La Due
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • La Due is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Due
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 28 people
    • Clinton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Austin, with the one closest to Austin listed first.
    • Greenwood
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Cockrell
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Lone Jack
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Belvidere
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Belvidere is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belvidere
    • Hicks City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Grandview
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Lotawana
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Martin City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Martin City is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin City
  • Johnson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Austin, with the one closest to Austin listed first.
    • La Tour
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • La Tour is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Tour
    • Latour
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Quick City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Quick City is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quick City
    • Kingsville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Holden
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Chilhowee
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Chilhowee is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chilhowee
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 322 people
    • Centerview
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Saint Clair County
    • Appleton City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Johnson County (KS)
  • Linn County (KS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Austin, with the one closest to Austin listed first.
    • Linn Valley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Boicourt
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • La Cygne
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Miami County (KS)

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

Cemeteries Near Austin ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Austin.

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

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

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

  • Austin Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Vansandt Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Pulliam Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Blackburn Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Reed Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Pleasant Valley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Martin Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Crescent Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Garden City Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Owen Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Lost Creek Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Byler Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (178 more) ...
    • Clearfork Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Burford Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Moudy Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)

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 Austin had a population of 130 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Archie
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Dayton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Dayton is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayton
  • Lone Tree
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lone Tree is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Tree
  • Garden City
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Everett
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Everett is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everett
  • Adrian
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Altona
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Altona is located in Bates County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altona
  • Daugherty
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Daugherty is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daugherty
  • Burdett
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Harrisonville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Main City
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Main City is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Main City
  • Passaic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Passaic is located in Bates County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Passaic
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 32 people
  • Continue List   (19 more) ...
    • Ballard ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Ballard is located in Bates County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballard
    • Creighton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • East Lynne
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Austin ...

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 148 newspapers that have been published in the area around Austin.

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

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 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 Austin:

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 Austin, 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 from Point A (ie- Austin) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.