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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 Columbia (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 Columbia. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Columbia is located in Boone County and is the County Seat.

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 Boone County: Audrain, Callaway, Cole, Cooper, Howard, Moniteau & Randolph.

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

  • Boone County     (The home county of Columbia)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbia, with the one closest to Columbia listed first.
    • Moores Switch
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Stephens
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Pierpont
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Pierpont is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierpont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 77 people
    • Hinton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Huntsdale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Huntsdale is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsdale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35 people
    • McBaine
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • McBaine is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McBaine
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12 people
    • Hallsville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Ashland
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Rocheport
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Harrisburg
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Riggs
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Oldham
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Hartsburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Audrain County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbia, with the one closest to Columbia listed first.
    • Larrabee
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Larrabee is located in Audrain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larrabee
    • Thompson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Thompson is located in Audrain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson
    • Saling ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Tulip
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Mexico
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Vandiver
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Vandiver is located in Audrain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vandiver
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 69 people
  • Callaway County
  • Cole County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbia, with the one closest to Columbia listed first.
    • Centertown
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Saint Martins
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Saint Martins is located in Cole County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Martins
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,204 people
    • Jefferson City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Scruggs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Lohman
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Russellville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Cooper County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbia, with the one closest to Columbia listed first.
    • Wooldridge
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Prairie Home
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Prairie Home is located in Cooper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Home
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 280 people
    • Clarks Fork
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Windsor Place village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • 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
    • Pisgah
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Boonville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Lone Elm
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Bunceton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Petersburg ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Petersburg is located in Cooper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg
    • Bellair
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Lamine
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Howard County
  • Moniteau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbia, with the one closest to Columbia listed first.
    • Lupus
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Lupus is located in Moniteau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lupus
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 34 people
    • Jamestown
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • McGirk
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • McGirk is located in Moniteau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGirk
    • California
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Clarksburg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Clarksburg is located in Moniteau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 346 people
  • Monroe County
  • Randolph County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbia, with the one closest to Columbia listed first.
    • Clark
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Clark is located in Randolph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clark
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 284 people
    • Higbee
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Renick
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Renick is located in Randolph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Renick
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 174 people
    • Yates
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Columbia ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Columbia.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Columbia, with the one closest to Columbia 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 Columbia had a population of 4,000 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Columbia had a population of 124,769 people.

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

  • Moores Switch
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Switzler
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Switzler is located in Boone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Switzler
  • Stephens
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Midway
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Midway is located in Boone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
  • Deer Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Deer Park is located in Boone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Park
  • Hinton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Providence
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Providence is located in Boone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
  • Lupus
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Lupus is located in Moniteau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lupus
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 34 people
  • Millersburg
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Millersburg is located in Callaway County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersburg
  • Woodlandville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Woodlandville is located in Boone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlandville
  • Perche ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Perche is located in Boone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perche
  • Ashland
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Hallsville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Rocheport
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Overton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Overton is located in Cooper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overton

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Columbia ...

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 74 newspapers that have been published in the area around Columbia.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Columbia. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Columbia and those printed in the larger area surrounding Columbia.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4> of Columbia.

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 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 Columbia:

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