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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Melva. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Melva to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Melva, please Contact Us.

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 Melva (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 Melva. 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 hospitals and 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Melva is historic, it would have been located within present day Taney 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 Taney County: Boone (AR), Carroll (AR), Marion (AR), Christian, Douglas, Ozark & Stone.

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

  • Taney County     (The home county of Melva)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Melva, with the one closest to Melva listed first.
    • Hollister
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Kirbyville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Branson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Ridgedale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Oasis ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Table Rock
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Table Rock is located in Taney County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Table Rock
    • Powersite
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Powersite is located in Taney County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powersite
    • Bull Creek
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Bull Creek is located in Taney County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 633 people
    • Merriam Woods
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Merriam Woods is located in Taney County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merriam Woods
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,859 people
    • Rockaway Beach
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Forsyth
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Walnut Shade
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Walnut Shade is located in Taney County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Shade
    • Cedarcreek
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Cedarcreek is located in Taney County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarcreek
  • Barry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Melva, with the one closest to Melva listed first.
    • Arrow Point
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Arrow Point is located in Barry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrow Point
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
    • Shell Knob
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Golden
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Emerald Beach
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Emerald Beach is located in Barry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald Beach
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 244 people
    • Hill City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Hill City is located in Barry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill City
    • Chain-O-Lakes
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Chain-O-Lakes is located in Barry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chain-O-Lakes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 127 people
    • Jenkins
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Scholten
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Eagle Rock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Christian County
  • Douglas County
  • Ozark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Melva, with the one closest to Melva listed first.
    • Ocie
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Longrun
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Theodosia
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Stone County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Melva, with the one closest to Melva listed first.
    • Indian Point
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Silver Dollar City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Silver Dollar City is located in Stone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Dollar City
    • Blue Eye
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Coney Island
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Lakeview
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Lakeview is located in Stone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
    • Branson West
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Branson West is located in Stone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branson West
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 451 people
    • Kimberling City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Lampe
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Marmaros
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Reeds Spring
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Cape Fair
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Galena
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • McCord Bend
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • McCord Bend is located in Stone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCord Bend
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 304 people
  • Boone County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Melva, with the one closest to Melva listed first.
    • Omaha
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Omaha is located in Boone County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omaha
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 172 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Omaha <2>
    • Lowry
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Boone
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Burlington
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Shaver ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Shaver is located in Boone County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaver
    • Myrtle
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Ridgeway
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Diamond City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Lead Hill
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Alpena
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Bergman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Elixir ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • South Lead Hill
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • South Lead Hill is located in Boone County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Lead Hill
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
  • Carroll County (AR)
  • Conway County (AR)
  • Marion County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Melva, with the one closest to Melva listed first.
    • Monarch
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Peel
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Dodd City ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Dodd City is located in Marion County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodd City
    • Pyatt
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Pyatt is located in Marion County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pyatt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 234 people

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

Cemeteries Near Melva ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Melva.

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

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

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

  • Cedar Valley Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Ellison Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Gobbler Knob Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Whorton Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Vanzandt Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Logan Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Pine Top Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Branson City Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Ozarks Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Mincy Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Lewallen Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Snowden Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (267 more) ...
    • Gretna Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Edwards Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Bowman Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 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.

While we didn't find Melva in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Melva.

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

  • Kirbyville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Cedar Valley ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedar Valley is located in Taney County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Valley
  • Mincy
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Mincy is located in Taney County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mincy
  • Branson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Omaha
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Omaha is located in Boone County (AR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omaha
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 172 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Omaha <2>
  • Forsyth
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Ruth
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Ruth is located in Stone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruth
  • Blue Eye
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Walnut Shade
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Walnut Shade is located in Taney County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Shade
  • Lowry
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Cedarcreek
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Cedarcreek is located in Taney County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarcreek
  • Kissee Mills
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Radical
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Radical is located in Stone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radical
    • Boone
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Denver
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Melva ...

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 53 newspapers that have been published in the area around Melva.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Melva, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Melva.

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 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 Melva:

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Melva, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 from Point A (ie- Melva) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.