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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 Bismarck (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 Bismarck. 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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Bismarck is located in Saint Francois 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 Saint Francois County: Iron, Jefferson, Madison, Perry, Sainte Genevieve & Washington.

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

  • Saint Francois County     (The home county of Bismarck)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bismarck, with the one closest to Bismarck listed first.
    • Wortham
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Iron Mountain Lake
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Iron Mountain Lake is located in Saint Francois County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Mountain Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 747 people
    • Leadwood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Leadwood is located in Saint Francois County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leadwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,158 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leadwood <1>
    • Elvins
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Elvins is located in Saint Francois County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elvins
    • Mineral City
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Mineral City is located in Saint Francois County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral City
    • Doe Run
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Doe Run is located in Saint Francois County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doe Run
    • Hamilton Town
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Hamilton Town is located in Saint Francois County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamilton Town
    • Park Hills
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Rivermines
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Rivermines is located in Saint Francois County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rivermines
    • Esther
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Esther is located in Saint Francois County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esther
    • Flat River
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Flat River is located in Saint Francois County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat River
    • Leadington
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Crawford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bismarck, with the one closest to Bismarck listed first.
    • Czar
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Davisville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Iron County
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bismarck, with the one closest to Bismarck listed first.
    • Valles Mines
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Knorpp
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Flucom
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • De Soto
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Olympian Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Olympian Village is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olympian Village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 752 people
    • Fletcher
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Fletcher is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fletcher
    • Hematite
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Hematite is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hematite
    • Ware
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Madison County
  • Reynolds County
  • Sainte Genevieve County
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bismarck, with the one closest to Bismarck listed first.
    • Irondale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Caledonia
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Summit
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Belgrade
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • French Town
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • French Town is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Town
    • Mineral Point
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Mineral Point is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Point
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 353 people
    • Potosi
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Cadet
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Sunlight
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Horton Town
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Horton Town is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horton Town
    • Tiff
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Tiff is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiff
    • Mud Town
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Mud Town is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mud Town

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

Cemeteries Near Bismarck ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bismarck.

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

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

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

  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Bismarck Masonic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Grieder Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Dent Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Shaner Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Hamilton Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Hickory Grove Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Wallen Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Big River Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Hughes Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Iron Mountain Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • German Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (345 more) ...
    • Matkin Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Lane Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mitchell Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Bismarck had a population of 837 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Bismarck had a population of 1,469 people.

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

  • Iron Mountain
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Iron Mountain is located in Saint Francois County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Mountain
  • Loughboro
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Loughboro is located in Saint Francois County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loughboro
  • Irondale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Middle Brook
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Doe Run
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Doe Run is located in Saint Francois County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doe Run
  • Belleview
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Graniteville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Graniteville is located in Iron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graniteville
  • Ghermanville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Ghermanville is located in Iron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ghermanville
  • Flat River
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Flat River is located in Saint Francois County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat River
  • Caledonia
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • De Lassus
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • De Lassus is located in Saint Francois County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Lassus
  • Hopewell
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Hopewell is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Bismarck ...

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 72 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bismarck.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Bismarck. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Bismarck and those printed in the larger area surrounding Bismarck.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 23 miles [37 km]<3> of Bismarck.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Bismarck:

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 Bismarck, 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- Bismarck) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.