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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

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

We've added Rochester to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Rochester, 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 Rochester (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 Rochester. 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 hospitals 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Rochester is historic, it would have been located within present day Andrew 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 Andrew County: Doniphan (KS), Buchanan, DeKalb, Gentry, Holt & Nodaway.

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

  • Andrew County     (The home county of Rochester)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rochester, with the one closest to Rochester listed first.
    • Helena
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Helena is located in Andrew County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
    • Cosby
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Cosby is located in Andrew County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cosby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
    • Avenue City ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Avenue City is located in Andrew County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avenue City
    • Savannah
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Wyeth ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Country Club
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Country Club is located in Andrew County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Club
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,530 people
    • Rea
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Rosendale
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Amazonia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Amazonia is located in Andrew County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amazonia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 320 people
    • Bolckow
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Nodaway
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Fillmore
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Buchanan County
  • Clinton County
  • Daviess County
  • DeKalb County
  • Gentry County
  • Holt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rochester, with the one closest to Rochester listed first.
    • Forbes
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • New Point
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Oregon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Forest City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Maitland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Maitland is located in Holt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maitland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 296 people
  • Nodaway County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rochester, with the one closest to Rochester listed first.
    • Guilford
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Barnard
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Conception
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Clyde
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Clyde is located in Nodaway County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 78 people
    • Conception Junction
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Conception Junction is located in Nodaway County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conception Junction
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 180 people
    • Arkoe
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Graham
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Ravenwood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Platte County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rochester, with the one closest to Rochester listed first.
    • Dearborn
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Edgerton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Doniphan County (KS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rochester, with the one closest to Rochester listed first.
    • Elwood
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Wathena
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Blair
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Blair is located in Doniphan County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blair
    • Palermo
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Palermo is located in Doniphan County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palermo
    • Troy
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Fanning
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Fanning is located in Doniphan County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fanning
    • Brenner
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Moray
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Moray is located in Doniphan County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moray
    • Sparks
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Sparks is located in Doniphan County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparks
    • Bendena
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Doniphan
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Petersburgh ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Iowa Point
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Rochester ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rochester.

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

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

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

Rochester itself is historic and was described in the Rand McNally Atlas as having a population of 212 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Helena
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Helena is located in Andrew County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
  • Cosby
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Cosby is located in Andrew County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cosby
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
  • Avenue City ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Avenue City is located in Andrew County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avenue City
  • Boxford ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Boxford is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boxford
  • Union Star
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Flag Springs ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Flag Springs is located in Andrew County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flag Springs
  • Dean
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Dean is located in Andrew County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dean
  • Orchid
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Orchid is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchid
  • Savannah
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Clair
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Clair is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clair
  • San Antonio
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • San Antonio is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Antonio
  • Clarksdale
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Clarksdale is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksdale
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 254 people
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Whitesville ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Whitesville is located in Andrew County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesville
    • Bayfield ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Bayfield is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayfield
    • Stockbridge ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Stockbridge is located in Buchanan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockbridge

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

Newspapers Published in Rochester ...

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 245 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rochester.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rochester, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rochester.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Rochester:

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 Rochester, 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 'straight-line' (or 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- Rochester) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.