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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 Clarks Fork (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 Clarks Fork. 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 Clarks Fork ...

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.

  • A typical abbreviation for Clarks Fork: Clarks Frk.
  • While the name of this community is Clarks Fork, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Clarks Fork may originally have been Clark's Fork.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Clarks Fork might be written as Clark Fork.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Clarks Fork. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Clarks Fork.

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and 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.

Clarks Fork is located in Cooper 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 Cooper County: Boone, Howard, Moniteau, Morgan, Pettis & Saline.

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

  • Cooper County     (The home county of Clarks Fork)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clarks Fork, with the one closest to Clarks Fork listed first.
    • Windsor Place village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Windsor Place village is located in Cooper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor Place village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 330 people
      • Windsor Place village has also been known as:
      • Windsor Place village
    • Prairie Home
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Prairie Home is located in Cooper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Home
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 280 people
    • Lone Elm
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Wooldridge
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Boonville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Pisgah
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Bunceton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Petersburg ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Petersburg is located in Cooper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg
    • Bellair
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Lamine
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Pilot Grove
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Harriston
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Boone County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clarks Fork, with the one closest to Clarks Fork listed first.
    • Rocheport
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Huntsdale
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Huntsdale is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsdale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35 people
    • McBaine
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • McBaine is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McBaine
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12 people
    • Columbia
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Pierpont
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Pierpont is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierpont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 77 people
    • Moores Switch
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Harrisburg
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Hinton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Ashland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Stephens
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Hartsburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Oldham
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
  • Callaway County
  • Chariton County
  • Cole County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clarks Fork, with the one closest to Clarks Fork listed first.
    • Centertown
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Saint Martins
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Saint Martins is located in Cole County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Martins
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,204 people
    • Lohman
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Russellville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Scruggs
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Howard County
  • Moniteau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clarks Fork, with the one closest to Clarks Fork listed first.
    • Lupus
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Lupus is located in Moniteau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lupus
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 34 people
    • Jamestown
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Clarksburg
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Clarksburg is located in Moniteau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 346 people
    • Tipton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • California
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • McGirk
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • McGirk is located in Moniteau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGirk
    • Latham
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Latham is located in Moniteau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latham
    • Fortuna
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Fortuna is located in Moniteau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fortuna
    • High Point
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Morgan County
  • Pettis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clarks Fork, with the one closest to Clarks Fork listed first.
    • Smithton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Longwood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Randolph County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clarks Fork, with the one closest to Clarks Fork listed first.
    • Higbee
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Yates
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Saline County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clarks Fork, with the one closest to Clarks Fork listed first.
    • Arrow Rock
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Nelson
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Saline City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Saline City is located in Saline County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saline City
    • Napton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • West Glasgow
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Gilliam
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Gilliam is located in Saline County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilliam
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 191 people
    • Marshall Junction
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Marshall Junction is located in Saline County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall Junction

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

Cemeteries Near Clarks Fork ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Clarks Fork.

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 Clarks Fork - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Clarks Fork had a population of 60 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Overton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Overton is located in Cooper County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overton
  • Lone Elm
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Prairie Home
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Prairie Home is located in Cooper County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Home
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 280 people
  • Pisgah
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Rocheport
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Boonville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Billingsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Billingsville is located in Cooper County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Billingsville
  • Speed
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Speed is located in Cooper County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speed
  • Bellair
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Petersburg ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Petersburg is located in Cooper County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg
  • Bunceton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Franklin
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Lupus
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Lupus is located in Moniteau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lupus
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 34 people
    • Jamestown
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Estill
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Estill is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estill

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

Newspapers Published in Clarks Fork ...

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 Clarks Fork.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Clarks Fork, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Clarks Fork.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Clarks Fork:

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Clarks Fork, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Clarks Fork) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.