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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 Meta (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 Meta. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Meta is located in Osage 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 Osage County: Callaway, Cole, Gasconade, Maries, Miller & Montgomery.

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

  • Osage County     (The home county of Meta)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meta, with the one closest to Meta listed first.
    • Koeltztown
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Argyle
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Argyle is located in Osage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 157 people
    • Folk
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Westphalia
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Freeburg
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Loose Creek
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Linn
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Linn is located in Osage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,557 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Linn <1>
    • Koenig
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Bonnots Mill
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • French Village ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • French Village is located in Osage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Village
    • Byron
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Isbell ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Isbell is located in Osage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isbell
  • Boone County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meta, with the one closest to Meta listed first.
    • Hartsburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Oldham
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Callaway County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meta, with the one closest to Meta listed first.
    • Cedar City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Cedar City is located in Callaway County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar City
    • Holts Summit
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Tebbetts
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Tebbetts is located in Callaway County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tebbetts
    • Lake Mykee Town
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Lake Mykee Town is located in Callaway County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Mykee Town
      • Estimated population in 2018: 351 people
    • Hord ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Hord is located in Callaway County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hord
    • New Bloomfield
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Folsom
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Mokane
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Camden County
  • Cole County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meta, with the one closest to Meta listed first.
    • Saint Thomas
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Saint Thomas is located in Cole County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Thomas
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
    • Teal ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Henley
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Henley is located in Cole County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henley
    • Wardsville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Wardsville is located in Cole County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wardsville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,570 people
    • Hickory Hill
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Taos
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Taos is located in Cole County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taos
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,157 people
    • Eugene
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Decatur
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Osage City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Osage City is located in Cole County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osage City
    • Jefferson City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Scruggs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Lohman
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Gasconade County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meta, with the one closest to Meta listed first.
    • Bland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Bland is located in Gasconade County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 523 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bland <1>
    • Mount Sterling
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Mount Sterling is located in Gasconade County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Sterling
  • Maries County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meta, with the one closest to Meta listed first.
    • Brinktown
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Brinktown is located in Maries County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brinktown
    • Vienna
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Paydown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Lindell
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Belle
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Lanes Prairie
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Vichy
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Vichy is located in Maries County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vichy
  • Miller County
  • Moniteau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meta, with the one closest to Meta listed first.
    • High Point
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • McGirk
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • McGirk is located in Moniteau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGirk
    • California
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Morgan County
  • Phelps County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meta, with the one closest to Meta listed first.
    • Jerome
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Arlington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Doolittle
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Doolittle is located in Phelps County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doolittle
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 595 people
    • Newburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Newburg is located in Phelps County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 432 people
  • Pulaski County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meta, with the one closest to Meta listed first.
    • Dixon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Dixon is located in Pulaski County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,457 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dixon <1>
    • Hawkeye
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Crocker
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Swedeborg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Swedeborg is located in Pulaski County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swedeborg

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

Cemeteries Near Meta ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Meta.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Meta, with the one closest to Meta 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>

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

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

  • Babbtown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Babbtown is located in Osage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babbtown
  • Saint Thomas
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Thomas is located in Cole County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Thomas
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
  • Teal ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Van Cleve
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Van Cleve is located in Maries County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Cleve
  • Saint Elizabeth
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Koeltztown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Osage Bluff
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Osage Bluff is located in Cole County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osage Bluff
  • Tavern
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Tavern is located in Maries County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tavern
  • Marys Home
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Honey Creek
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Honey Creek is located in Cole County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Creek
  • Bass
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bass is located in Cole County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bass
  • Westphalia
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Wardsville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Wardsville is located in Cole County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wardsville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,570 people
    • Hickory Hill
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Taos
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Taos is located in Cole County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taos
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,157 people

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Meta ...

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 99 newspapers that have been published in the area around Meta.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Meta. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Meta and those printed in the larger area surrounding Meta.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4> of Meta.

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 either 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 Meta:

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