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 Belle Center (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 Belle Center. 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 Belle Center ...
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 Belle Center: Belle Ctr. (or less commonly used: Belle Cen., Belle Cent. or Belle Cntr.)
You might see Belle Centre instead of Belle Center.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Belle Center. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Belle Center.
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.
For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.
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 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.
Belle Center is located in Jasper 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 Jasper County: Cherokee (KS), Crawford (KS), Barton, Dade, Lawrence & Newton.
Below are the counties that are near Belle Center. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Belle Center:
- Jasper County (The home county of Belle Center)
- The following are listed by their distance from Belle Center, with the one closest to Belle Center listed first.
- Central City
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Central City is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central City
- Iron Gates
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Iron Gates is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Gates
- Joplin
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Lone Elm
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Lone Elm is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Elm
- West Joplin
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- West Joplin is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Joplin
- Klondike
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Klondike is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klondike
- Thoms
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Thoms is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thoms
- Dupont ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Dupont is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dupont
- Smithfield
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Smithfield is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithfield
- Airport Drive
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Airport Drive is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airport Drive
- Population from the 2020 Census: 862 people
- East Joplin
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- East Joplin is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Joplin
- Oakland Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Oakland Park is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland Park
- Carl Junction
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Barton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Belle Center, with the one closest to Belle Center listed first.
- Nashville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Nashville is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashville
- Mindenmines
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Oakton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Oakton is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakton
- McDonald County
- The following are listed by their distance from Belle Center, with the one closest to Belle Center listed first.
- May
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- May is located in McDonald County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May
- Goodman
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Erie
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Erie is located in McDonald County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
- Tiff City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Tiff City is located in McDonald County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiff City
- Newton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Belle Center, with the one closest to Belle Center listed first.
- Dennis Acres
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Dennis Acres is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennis Acres
- Population from the 2020 Census: 72 people
- Grand Falls Plaza
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Grand Falls Plaza is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Falls Plaza
- Population from the 2020 Census: 112 people
- Shoal Creek Drive
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Shoal Creek Drive is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoal Creek Drive
- Population from the 2020 Census: 327 people
- Cliff Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cliff Village is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliff Village
- Population from the 2020 Census: 39 people
- Leawood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Leawood is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leawood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 678 people
- Redings Mill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Redings Mill is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redings Mill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 150 people
- Loma Linda
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Loma Linda is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loma Linda
- Population from the 2020 Census: 782 people
- Saginaw
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Saginaw is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saginaw
- Population from the 2020 Census: 305 people
- Shoal Creek Estates
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Shoal Creek Estates is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoal Creek Estates
- Population from the 2020 Census: 92 people
- Silver Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Silver Creek is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
- Estimated population in 2012: 631 people
- Spring City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Spring City is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring City
- Racine
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Racine is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Racine
- Diamond
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Diamond is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond
- Population from the 2020 Census: 909 people
- Former names for Diamond:
- Diamond Grove
- Diamond Mill
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Diamond <1>
- Cherokee County (KS)
- The following are listed by their distance from Belle Center, with the one closest to Belle Center listed first.
- East Galena
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- East Galena is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Galena
- Galena
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- South Galena
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- South Galena is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Galena
- Empire City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Empire City is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire City
- Badger
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Badger is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Badger
- Riverton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Lowell
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Lowell is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
- Lowell has also been known as:
- Lowell Station
- Lawton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Lawton is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawton
- Crestline
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Crestline is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crestline
- Baxter Springs
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Quaker
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Quaker is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quaker
- Baxter Junction
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Baxter Junction is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baxter Junction
- Commonwealth
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Commonwealth is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Commonwealth
- Crawford County (KS)
- The following are listed by their distance from Belle Center, with the one closest to Belle Center listed first.
- Opolis
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Opolis is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opolis
- Kirkwood
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Kirkwood is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkwood
- Klendike
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Klendike is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klendike
- Cherokee
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pittsburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Lone Oak
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Lone Oak is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Oak
- Cornell
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Cornell is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornell
- Frontenac
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Capaldo
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Capaldo is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capaldo
- Yale
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Yale is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yale
- Monmouth
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Monmouth is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monmouth
- Beulah
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Beulah is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beulah
- Curranville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Curranville is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curranville
- Labette County (KS)
- The following are listed by their distance from Belle Center, with the one closest to Belle Center listed first.
- Chetopa
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Oswego
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Ottawa County (OK)
- The following are listed by their distance from Belle Center, with the one closest to Belle Center listed first.
- Peoria
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Peoria is located in Ottawa County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peoria
- Population from the 2020 Census: 135 people
- Hockerville ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Hockerville is located in Ottawa County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hockerville
- Lincolnville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Lincolnville is located in Ottawa County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincolnville
- Picher ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Quapaw
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Cardin
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Commerce
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- North Miami
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- North Miami is located in Ottawa County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Miami
- Population from the 2020 Census: 370 people
- Ottawa
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Ottawa is located in Ottawa County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottawa
- Wyandotte
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Miami
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Miami is located in Ottawa County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miami
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,947 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Miami <1>
- Kellyville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Kellyville is located in Ottawa County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellyville
- Dotyville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Dotyville is located in Ottawa County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dotyville
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Belle Center, see our County-by-County Page for Belle Center.
Cemeteries Near Belle Center ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Belle Center.
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 Belle Center - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Belle Center covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Belle Center, with the one closest to Belle Center listed first.
- Peace Church Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peace Church Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Peace Church Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Joplin.
- Fairview Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Sherwood Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Union Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Cemetery
- The Union Cemetery has also been known as:
- Ritchie Cemetery
- Union Chapel Cemetery
- Oak Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Hillcrest Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Galena Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Osborne Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Parkway Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Messer Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Messer Cemetery
- The Messer Cemetery has also been known as:
- Spring River Falls Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #93033 <2>
- Stevenson Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Faith Community Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (219 more) ...
- Mound Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Forest Park Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Ozark Memorial Park Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ozark Memorial Park Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Ozark Memorial Park Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Joplin.
- The Ozark Memorial Park Cemetery has also been known as:
- Ozark Memorial Park
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #30712 <2>
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 Belle Center in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Belle Center.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Belle Center, with the one closest to Belle Center listed first.
- Empire City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Empire City is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire City
- Galena
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Blendville ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Blendville is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blendville
- West Joplin
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- West Joplin is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Joplin
- Joplin
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Tuckahoe
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Tuckahoe is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuckahoe
- Thoms
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Thoms is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thoms
- Smithfield
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Smithfield is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithfield
- Dupont ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Dupont is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dupont
- East Joplin
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- East Joplin is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Joplin
- Carl Junction
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Lowell
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Lowell is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
- Lowell has also been known as:
- Lowell Station
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Saginaw
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Saginaw is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saginaw
- Population from the 2020 Census: 305 people
- Webb City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Carterville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Belle Center. See our List of 1890's Communities around Belle Center.
Newspapers Published in Belle Center ...
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 81 newspapers that have been published in the area around Belle Center.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Belle Center, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Belle Center.
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 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 Belle Center:
- Websites specific to Missouri
- Pages specific to Jasper County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Barton County
- McDonald County
- Newton County
- Cherokee County
- Crawford County
- Labette County
- Ottawa County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Missouri
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 Belle Center, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Belle Center) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |