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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 Joplin (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 Joplin. 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.

Joplin is primarily located in Jasper County. A portion of Joplin extends into Newton 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 Jasper County: Cherokee (KS), Crawford (KS), Barton, Dade, Lawrence & Newton.

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

  • Jasper County     (The home county of Joplin)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Joplin, with the one closest to Joplin listed first.
    • West Joplin
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • East Joplin
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Lone Elm
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Oakland Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Oakland Park is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland Park
    • Iron Gates
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Iron Gates is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Gates
    • Duquesne
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Duquesne is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duquesne
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,689 people
    • Airport Drive
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Airport Drive is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airport Drive
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 862 people
    • Rex City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Rex City is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rex City
    • Central City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Central City is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central City
    • Thoms
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Duenweg
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Prosperity
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Webb City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Barry County
  • Barton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Joplin, with the one closest to Joplin listed first.
    • Nashville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Mindenmines
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Oakton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Lamar Heights
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Lamar Heights is located in Barton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamar Heights
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 173 people
    • Kenoma
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Lawrence County
  • McDonald County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Joplin, with the one closest to Joplin listed first.
    • May
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Goodman
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Erie
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Tiff City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Tiff City is located in McDonald County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiff City
    • Anderson
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Wylie
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Newton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Joplin, with the one closest to Joplin listed first.
    • Dennis Acres
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Dennis Acres is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennis Acres
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 72 people
    • Grand Falls Plaza
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Grand Falls Plaza is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Falls Plaza
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 112 people
    • Leawood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Leawood is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leawood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 678 people
    • Shoal Creek Drive
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Shoal Creek Drive is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoal Creek Drive
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 327 people
    • Silver Creek
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Silver Creek is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
      • Estimated population in 2012: 631 people
    • Cliff Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Cliff Village is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliff Village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 39 people
    • Redings Mill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Redings Mill is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redings Mill
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 150 people
    • Shoal Creek Estates
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Shoal Creek Estates is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoal Creek Estates
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 92 people
    • Saginaw
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Saginaw is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saginaw
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 305 people
    • Spring City
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Spring City is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring City
    • Loma Linda
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Loma Linda is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loma Linda
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 782 people
    • Racine
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Racine is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Racine
    • Diamond
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Cherokee County (KS)
  • Crawford County (KS)
  • Ottawa County (OK)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Joplin, with the one closest to Joplin listed first.
    • Peoria
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Peoria is located in Ottawa County (OK)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peoria
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 135 people
    • Hockerville ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Lincolnville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Quapaw
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Picher ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Cardin
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Ottawa
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Commerce
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • North Miami
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • North Miami is located in Ottawa County (OK)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Miami
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 370 people
    • Wyandotte
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Kellyville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Miami
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Dotyville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Dotyville is located in Ottawa County (OK)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dotyville

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

Cemeteries Near Joplin ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Joplin.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Joplin, with the one closest to Joplin 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 Joplin had a population of 9,943 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Joplin had a population of 50,956 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Joplin ...

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 92 newspapers that have been published in the area around Joplin.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Joplin. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Joplin and those printed in the larger area surrounding Joplin.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 23 miles [37 km]<4> of Joplin.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Joplin:

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