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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 Liberty (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 Liberty. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.

Liberty is located in Clay 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 Clay County: Wyandotte (KS), Clinton, Jackson, Platte & Ray.

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

  • Clay County     (The home county of Liberty)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Liberty, with the one closest to Liberty listed first.
    • Glenaire
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Glenaire is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenaire
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 583 people
    • Roosterville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant Valley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Pleasant Valley is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,047 people
    • Chandler
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Claycomo
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Claycomo is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claycomo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,526 people
    • Stockdale ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Birmingham
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Missouri City
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Minaville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Acme
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Acme is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acme
    • East Kansas City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • East Kansas City is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Kansas City
    • Randolph
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Gladstone
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Caldwell County
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Liberty, with the one closest to Liberty listed first.
    • Lee's Summit
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Lake Winnebago
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Lake Winnebago is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Winnebago
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,370 people
    • Belton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Loch Lloyd
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • 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
    • Raymore
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Clinton County
  • Jackson County
  • Lafayette County
  • Platte County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Liberty, with the one closest to Liberty listed first.
    • Northmoor
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Northmoor is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northmoor
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 362 people
    • Houston Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Houston Lake is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 248 people
    • Lake Waukomis
      (11 miles [17.7 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
    • Riverside
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Platte Woods
      (12 miles [19.3 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
    • Ferrelview
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Ferrelview is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferrelview
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 800 people
    • Linkville ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Parkville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Weatherby Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 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
    • Ridgely
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Ridgely is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgely
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 112 people
    • Platte City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Waldron
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Waldron is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldron
    • Edgerton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Ray County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Liberty, with the one closest to Liberty listed first.
    • Crystal Lakes
      (14 miles [22.5 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
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Homestead is located in Ray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestead
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
    • Excelsior Estates
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Excelsior Estates is located in Ray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Excelsior Estates
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 146 people
    • Wood Heights
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Wood Heights is located in Ray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Heights
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 700 people
    • Woods Heights
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Albany
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Albany is located in Ray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albany
    • Orrick
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Lawson
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Fleming
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Fleming is located in Ray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fleming
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
    • Rayville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Camden
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Elmira
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Elmira is located in Ray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmira
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 52 people
    • Richmond
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Johnson County (KS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Liberty, with the one closest to Liberty listed first.
    • Mission Woods
      (17 miles [27.4 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
      (17 miles [27.4 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
      (17 miles [27.4 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
      (18 miles [29 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>
    • Roeland Park
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Mission Hills
      (19 miles [30.6 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
    • Mission
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • 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>
    • Countryside
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Countryside is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Countryside
    • Prairie Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Leawood
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Merriam
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Lake Quivira
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Lake Quivira is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Quivira
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 930 people
    • Holliday
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Leavenworth County (KS)
  • Wyandotte County (KS)

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

Cemeteries Near Liberty ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Liberty.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Liberty, with the one closest to Liberty 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 Liberty had a population of 2,558 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Liberty had a population of 32,418 people.

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

  • Chandler
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Birmingham
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Minaville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Courtney
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Courtney is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Courtney
  • Missouri City
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Acme
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Acme is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acme
  • Randolph
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Atherton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Linden
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Moscow
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Moscow is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
  • Thornton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Thornton is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornton
  • Kearney
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Nashua
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Blue Mills
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Blue Mills is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Mills
    • Prathersville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Prathersville is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prathersville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 135 people

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Liberty ...

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 168 newspapers that have been published in the area around Liberty.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Liberty. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Liberty and those printed in the larger area surrounding Liberty.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 18 miles [29 km]<4> of Liberty.

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 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 Liberty:

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