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 Grain Valley (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 Grain Valley. 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 Grain Valley ...
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 Grain Valley: Grain Vly. (or less commonly used: Grain Vally. or Grain Vlly.)
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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.
Grain Valley is located in Jackson 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 Jackson County: Johnson (KS), Wyandotte (KS), Cass, Clay, Johnson, Lafayette & Ray.
Below are the counties that are near Grain Valley. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Grain Valley:
- Jackson County (The home county of Grain Valley)
- The following are listed by their distance from Grain Valley, with the one closest to Grain Valley listed first.
- Blue Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Oak Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Lake Tapawingo
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Lake Tapawingo is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Tapawingo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 719 people
- Lake City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Lake City is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
- Lake Lotawana
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Sni Mills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Sni Mills is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sni Mills
- Buckner
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Adams
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Adams is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams
- Levasy
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Levasy is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Levasy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
- Cockrell
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Cockrell is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cockrell
- Hicks City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hicks City is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks City
- Lone Jack
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Little Blue
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Little Blue is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Blue
- Cass County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grain Valley, with the one closest to Grain Valley listed first.
- Lee's Summit
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Baldwin Park
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Baldwin Park is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baldwin Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 96 people
- Pleasant Hill
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Lake Winnebago
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Lake Winnebago is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Winnebago
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,370 people
- Strasburg
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Raymore
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Coleman
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Coleman is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman
- Belton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Harrelson
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Harrelson is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrelson
- East Lynne
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Gunn City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Gunn City is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunn City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
- Loch Lloyd
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Loch Lloyd is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loch Lloyd
- Population from the 2020 Census: 835 people
- Loch Lloyd has also been known as:
- Loch Lloyd village
- Peculiar
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Clay County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grain Valley, with the one closest to Grain Valley listed first.
- Sugar Creek
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Missouri City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Birmingham
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Birmingham is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birmingham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 209 people
- Minaville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Minaville is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minaville
- East Kansas City
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- East Kansas City is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Kansas City
- Randolph
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Randolph is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
- Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
- Claycomo
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Claycomo is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claycomo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,526 people
- Glenaire
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Glenaire is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenaire
- Population from the 2020 Census: 583 people
- Liberty
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Prathersville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Prathersville is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prathersville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 135 people
- Stockdale ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Stockdale is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockdale
- Avondale
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Avondale is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 456 people
- Pleasant Valley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Pleasant Valley is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,047 people
- Johnson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grain Valley, with the one closest to Grain Valley listed first.
- Kingsville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Columbus
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Columbus is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus
- Holden
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Greendoor
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Greendoor is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greendoor
- La Tour
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- La Tour is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Tour
- Latour
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Latour is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latour
- Centerview
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Warrensburg
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Lafayette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grain Valley, with the one closest to Grain Valley listed first.
- Bates City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Napoleon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Napoleon is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Napoleon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 214 people
- Waterloo
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Waterloo is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterloo
- Lake Lafayette
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Lake Lafayette is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Lafayette
- Population from the 2020 Census: 340 people
- Odessa
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Wellington
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Mayview
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Lexington
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Higginsville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Page City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Page City is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Page City
- Aullville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Aullville is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aullville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
- Dover
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Dover is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
- Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
- Platte County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grain Valley, with the one closest to Grain Valley listed first.
- Northmoor
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Northmoor is located in Platte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northmoor
- Population from the 2020 Census: 362 people
- Riverside
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Houston Lake
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Houston Lake is located in Platte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 248 people
- Lake Waukomis
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Lake Waukomis is located in Platte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Waukomis
- Population from the 2020 Census: 874 people
- Platte Woods
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Platte Woods is located in Platte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platte Woods
- Population from the 2020 Census: 406 people
- Parkville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Weatherby Lake
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Weatherby Lake is located in Platte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weatherby Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,086 people
- Ray County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grain Valley, with the one closest to Grain Valley listed first.
- Orrick
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Fleming
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Fleming is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fleming
- Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
- Albany
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Albany is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albany
- Camden
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Henrietta
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Henrietta is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrietta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 355 people
- Richmond
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Wood Heights
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Wood Heights is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 700 people
- Woods Heights
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Woods Heights is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Heights
- Crystal Lakes
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Crystal Lakes is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lakes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
- Homestead
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Homestead is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestead
- Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
- Rayville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Excelsior Estates
(25 miles [40.2 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
- Hardin
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Hardin is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 531 people
- Johnson County (KS)
- The following are listed by their distance from Grain Valley, with the one closest to Grain Valley listed first.
- Mission Hills
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Mission Hills is located in Johnson County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,533 people
- Mission Woods
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- 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
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Westwood Hills is located in Johnson County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 390 people
- Westwood
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Westwood is located in Johnson County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,642 people
- Fairway
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Leawood
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Prairie Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Countryside
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Countryside is located in Johnson County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Countryside
- Roeland Park
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Mission
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Mission is located in Johnson County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,873 people
- Former name for Mission:
- Mission Hill Acres
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mission <1>
- Merriam
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Overland Park
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Lenexa
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Wyandotte County (KS)
- The following are listed by their distance from Grain Valley, with the one closest to Grain Valley listed first.
- Argentine
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Argentine is located in Wyandotte County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argentine
- Kansas City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Quindaro ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Quindaro is located in Wyandotte County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quindaro
- Turner
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Turner is located in Wyandotte County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turner
- Morris
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Morris is located in Wyandotte County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morris
- Grinter Heights
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Grinter Heights is located in Wyandotte County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grinter Heights
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Grain Valley, see our County-by-County Page for Grain Valley.
Cemeteries Near Grain Valley ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Grain Valley.
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 Grain Valley - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Grain Valley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Grain Valley, with the one closest to Grain Valley listed first.
- Valley Memorial Gardens
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Grain Valley Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Purdee Chapel Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Brown Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- George Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Bridges Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Koger Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Oak Grove Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- St. Clair Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Chiddix Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Oakland Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Blue Springs Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Continue List (296 more) ...
- Cowherd Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Perdue Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Gosney Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
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 Grain Valley had a population of 193 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Grain Valley had a population of 14,827 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Grain Valley, with the one closest to Grain Valley listed first.
- Pink Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Pink Hill is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pink Hill
- Blue Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Oak Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Sni Mills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Sni Mills is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sni Mills
- Lake City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Lake City is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
- Bates City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Buckner
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Adams
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Adams is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams
- Cockrell
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Cockrell is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cockrell
- Hicks City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hicks City is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks City
- Levasy
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Levasy is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Levasy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
- Lone Jack
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Continue List (18 more) ...
- Chapel Hill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Chapel Hill is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
- Blue Mills
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Blue Mills is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Mills
- Napoleon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Napoleon is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Napoleon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 214 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Grain Valley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Grain Valley.
Newspapers Published in Grain Valley ...
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 62 newspapers that have been published in the area around Grain Valley.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Grain Valley, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Grain Valley.
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 Grain Valley:
- Websites specific to Missouri
- Pages specific to Jackson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cass County
- Clay County
- Johnson County
- Lafayette County
- Platte County
- Ray County
- Johnson County
- Wyandotte 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 Grain Valley, 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' (or 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- Grain Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |