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 Prairie Ridge (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 Prairie Ridge. 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 Prairie Ridge ...
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 Prairie Ridge: Prairie Rdg. (or less commonly used: Prairie Rdge. or Prairie Ridg.)
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Prairie Ridge. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Prairie Ridge.
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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.
Prairie Ridge is located in Caldwell 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 Caldwell County: Carroll, Clinton, Daviess, DeKalb, Livingston & Ray.
Below are the counties that are near Prairie Ridge. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Prairie Ridge:
- Caldwell County (The home county of Prairie Ridge)
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie Ridge, with the one closest to Prairie Ridge listed first.
- Polo
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Kingston
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Kingston is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 332 people
- Bonanza ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Bonanza is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonanza
- Cowgill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Cowgill is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowgill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 182 people
- Gould Farm
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Gould Farm is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gould Farm
- Hamilton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Kidder
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Braymer
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Nettleton
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Nettleton is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nettleton
- Proctorville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Proctorville is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Proctorville
- Breckenridge
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Breckenridge is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breckenridge
- Population from the 2020 Census: 351 people
- Buchanan County
- Easton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Easton is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 233 people
- Carroll County
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie Ridge, with the one closest to Prairie Ridge listed first.
- Stet
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Stet is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stet
- Latoh ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Latoh is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latoh
- Mandeville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Mandeville is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mandeville
- Norborne
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Norborne is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norborne
- Population from the 2020 Census: 638 people
- Clay County
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie Ridge, with the one closest to Prairie Ridge listed first.
- Holt
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Excelsior Springs
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Kearney
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Mosby
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Mosby is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mosby
- Population from the 2020 Census: 199 people
- Prathersville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Prathersville is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prathersville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 135 people
- Chandler
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Chandler is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chandler
- Stockdale ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Stockdale is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockdale
- Missouri City
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Roosterville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Roosterville is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roosterville
- Liberty
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Smithville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Glenaire
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Glenaire is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenaire
- Population from the 2020 Census: 583 people
- Clinton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie Ridge, with the one closest to Prairie Ridge listed first.
- Converse
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Converse is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Converse
- Lathrop
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Turney
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cameron
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Keystone ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Keystone is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
- Lilly
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Lilly is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lilly
- Plattsburg
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Starfield
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Starfield is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starfield
- Trimble
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Gower
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Daviess County
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie Ridge, with the one closest to Prairie Ridge listed first.
- Mabel
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Mabel is located in Daviess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabel
- Winston
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Winston is located in Daviess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 253 people
- Altamont
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Altamont is located in Daviess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altamont
- Population from the 2020 Census: 201 people
- Alta Vista ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Alta Vista is located in Daviess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alta Vista
- Gallatin
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Lock Springs
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Lock Springs is located in Daviess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lock Springs
- Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
- DeKalb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie Ridge, with the one closest to Prairie Ridge listed first.
- Osborn
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Stewartsville
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Weatherby
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Weatherby is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weatherby
- Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
- Amity
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Amity is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amity
- Population from the 2020 Census: 53 people
- Maysville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Clarksdale
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Clarksdale is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksdale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 254 people
- Santa Rosa
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Santa Rosa is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Rosa
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie Ridge, with the one closest to Prairie Ridge listed first.
- Sibley
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Atherton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Atherton is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atherton
- Buckner
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Levasy
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Levasy is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Levasy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
- River Bend
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- River Bend is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Bend
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10 people
- Lafayette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie Ridge, with the one closest to Prairie Ridge listed first.
- Napoleon
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Napoleon is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Napoleon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 214 people
- Wellington
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Lexington
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Waterloo
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Waterloo is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterloo
- Livingston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie Ridge, with the one closest to Prairie Ridge listed first.
- Ludlow
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Ludlow is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludlow
- Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
- Mooresville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Mooresville is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mooresville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 92 people
- Dawn
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Utica
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Utica is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utica
- Population from the 2020 Census: 250 people
- Platte County
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie Ridge, with the one closest to Prairie Ridge listed first.
- Edgerton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Ridgely
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Ridgely is located in Platte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgely
- Population from the 2020 Census: 112 people
- Ray County
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie Ridge, with the one closest to Prairie Ridge listed first.
- Elmira
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Elmira is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmira
- Population from the 2020 Census: 52 people
- Lawson
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Knoxville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Knoxville is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knoxville
- Georgeville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Georgeville is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgeville
- Excelsior Estates
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Excelsior Estates is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Excelsior Estates
- Population from the 2020 Census: 146 people
- Crystal Lakes
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Crystal Lakes is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lakes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
- Homestead
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Homestead is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestead
- Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
- Rayville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Wood Heights
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Wood Heights is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 700 people
- Ovid ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Ovid is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ovid
- Woods Heights
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Woods Heights is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Heights
- Richmond
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Prairie Ridge, see our County-by-County Page for Prairie Ridge.
Cemeteries Near Prairie Ridge ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Prairie Ridge.
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 Prairie Ridge - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Prairie Ridge covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Prairie Ridge, with the one closest to Prairie Ridge listed first.
- Prairie Ridge Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Zeikle Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Cates Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Mayes Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Sloan Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Dixon Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Dunkard Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Allen Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Estes Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Wiley Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Mirabile Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Paxton Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Continue List (254 more) ...
- Zimmerman Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Brown Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Crooked River Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
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 Prairie Ridge in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Prairie Ridge.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Prairie Ridge, with the one closest to Prairie Ridge listed first.
- Elmira
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Elmira is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmira
- Population from the 2020 Census: 52 people
- Polo
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Mirabile
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Mirabile is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mirabile
- Sandals
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Sandals is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandals
- Kingston
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Kingston is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 332 people
- Converse
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Converse is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Converse
- Lawson
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Kerr
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Kerr is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kerr
- Knoxville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Knoxville is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knoxville
- Taitsville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Taitsville is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taitsville
- Bonanza ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Bonanza is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonanza
- Lathrop
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Cowgill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Cowgill is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowgill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 182 people
- Holt
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Vibbard
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Vibbard is located in Ray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vibbard
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Prairie Ridge. See our List of 1890's Communities around Prairie Ridge.
Newspapers Published in Prairie Ridge ...
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 39 newspapers that have been published in the area around Prairie Ridge.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Prairie Ridge, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Prairie Ridge.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Prairie Ridge:
- Websites specific to Missouri
- Pages specific to Caldwell County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Buchanan County
- Carroll County
- Clay County
- Clinton County
- Daviess County
- DeKalb County
- Jackson County
- Lafayette County
- Livingston County
- Platte County
- Ray 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 Prairie Ridge, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Prairie Ridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |