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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 Excelsior Springs (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 Excelsior Springs. 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 Excelsior Springs ...

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 Excelsior Springs: Excelsior Spgs. (or less commonly used: Excelsior Spngs. or Excelsior Sprngs.)

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

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 northwest 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 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.

Excelsior Springs is primarily located in Clay County. A portion of Excelsior Springs extends into Ray 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 Clay County: Wyandotte (KS), Clinton, Jackson, Platte & Ray.

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

  • Clay County     (The home county of Excelsior Springs)
  • Caldwell County
  • Carroll County
  • Cass County
    • Lee's Summit
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Clinton County
  • DeKalb County
  • Jackson County
  • Lafayette County
  • Platte County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Excelsior Springs, with the one closest to Excelsior Springs listed first.
    • Northmoor
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Northmoor is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northmoor
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 362 people
    • Linkville ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Houston Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Houston Lake is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 248 people
    • Ferrelview
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Ferrelview is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferrelview
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 800 people
    • Lake Waukomis
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Lake Waukomis is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Waukomis
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 874 people
    • Platte Woods
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Platte Woods is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platte Woods
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 406 people
    • Ridgely
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Ridgely is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgely
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 112 people
    • Edgerton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Riverside
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Parkville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Weatherby Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Weatherby Lake is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weatherby Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,086 people
    • Camden Point
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Ray County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Excelsior Springs, with the one closest to Excelsior Springs listed first.
    • Crystal Lakes
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Crystal Lakes is located in Ray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lakes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
    • Homestead
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Homestead is located in Ray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestead
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
    • Wood Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Wood Heights is located in Ray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Heights
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 700 people
    • Woods Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Excelsior Estates
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Excelsior Estates is located in Ray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Excelsior Estates
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 146 people
    • Lawson
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Rayville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Albany
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Albany is located in Ray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albany
    • Orrick
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Elmira
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Elmira is located in Ray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmira
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 52 people
    • Knoxville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Fleming
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Fleming is located in Ray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fleming
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
  • Johnson County (KS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Excelsior Springs, with the one closest to Excelsior Springs listed first.
    • Mission Woods
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Mission Woods is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Woods
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 195 people
    • Westwood Hills
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Westwood Hills is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 390 people
    • Westwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Westwood is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,642 people
    • Fairway
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Fairway is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,963 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairway <1>
    • Mission Hills
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Mission Hills is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,533 people
    • Roeland Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Wyandotte County (KS)

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

Cemeteries Near Excelsior Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Excelsior Springs.

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 Excelsior Springs - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Elmwood Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Crown Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Hillcrest Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Cox Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Enon Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Turner Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Woodland Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Moore Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Scott Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Clevenger Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Crowley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (316 more) ...
    • Shady Grove Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Baldwin Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Mt. Zion Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)

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 Excelsior Springs had a population of 2,034 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Excelsior Springs had a population of 11,833 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Excelsior Springs ...

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 Excelsior Springs.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Excelsior Springs. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Excelsior Springs and those printed in the larger area surrounding Excelsior Springs.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<3> of Excelsior Springs.

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 helpful 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 Excelsior Springs:

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 Excelsior Springs, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Excelsior Springs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.