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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Red Oak (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 Red Oak. 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 Red Oak ...

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.

Another variation: Redoak.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Red Oak. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Red Oak.

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Red Oak is located in Lawrence 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 Lawrence County: Barry, Christian, Dade, Greene, Jasper, Newton & Stone.

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

  • Lawrence County     (The home county of Red Oak)
  • Barry County
  • Barton County
  • Cedar County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Red Oak, with the one closest to Red Oak listed first.
    • Jerico Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Jerico Springs is located in Cedar County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerico Springs
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 232 people
    • Umber View Heights
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Umber View Heights is located in Cedar County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Umber View Heights
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 49 people
  • Christian County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Red Oak, with the one closest to Red Oak listed first.
    • Billings
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Republic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Dade County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Red Oak, with the one closest to Red Oak listed first.
    • Lockwood
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Lockwood is located in Dade County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 897 people
    • South Greenfield
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • South Greenfield is located in Dade County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Greenfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
    • Greenfield
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Pilgrim
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Everton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Glen Town
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Glen Town is located in Dade County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Town
    • Arcola
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Arcola is located in Dade County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcola
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 53 people
    • Corry
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Dadeville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Bona
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Greene County
  • Jasper County
  • Newton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Red Oak, with the one closest to Red Oak listed first.
    • Talmage City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Talmage City is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talmage City
    • Wentworth
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Wentworth is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wentworth
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 145 people
    • Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Park is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park
    • Ritchey
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Ritchey is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ritchey
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 81 people
    • Diamond
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Granby City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Granby City is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granby City
    • Newtonia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Granby
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Stark City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Fairview
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Silver Creek
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Silver Creek is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
      • Estimated population in 2012: 631 people
    • Dennis Acres
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Dennis Acres is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennis Acres
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 72 people
    • Leawood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Leawood is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leawood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 678 people
  • Stone County

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

Cemeteries Near Red Oak ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Red Oak.

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 Red Oak - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Red Oak, with the one closest to Red Oak 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Red Oak had a population of 40 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Bowers Mill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Bowers Mill is also located in Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowers Mill
  • Avilla
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Phelps
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Phelps is also located in Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps
  • Round Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Dudenville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Dudenville is located in Jasper County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dudenville
  • Maple Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Kings Point
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Kings Point is located in Dade County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Point
  • Meinert
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Meinert is located in Dade County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meinert
  • Miller
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Reeds
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Reeds is located in Jasper County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
  • Lockwood
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Lockwood is located in Dade County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockwood
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 897 people
  • Sarcoxie
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Red Oak ...

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 151 newspapers that have been published in the area around Red Oak.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Red Oak, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Red Oak.

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 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 Red Oak:

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>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- Red Oak) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 Red Oak, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.