RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Missouri >> Phelps County >> Rolla >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Rolla (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 Rolla. 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 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.

Rolla is located in Phelps County and is the County Seat.

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 Phelps County: Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Pulaski & Texas.

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

  • Phelps County     (The home county of Rolla)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rolla, with the one closest to Rolla listed first.
    • Doolittle
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Doolittle is located in Phelps County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doolittle
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 595 people
    • Newburg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Newburg is located in Phelps County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 432 people
    • Saint James
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Arlington
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Jerome
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Rosati
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Edgar Springs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Beulah
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Beulah is located in Phelps County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beulah
    • Duke
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Duke is located in Phelps County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duke
  • Crawford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rolla, with the one closest to Rolla listed first.
    • Wesco
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Wesco is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesco
    • Jake Prairie
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Cook Station
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Cook Station is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cook Station
    • Cuba
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Steelville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Sankey ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Sankey is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sankey
    • Midland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Midland is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midland
    • Oak Hill
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Elaver
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Cherryville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Leasburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Argo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Dent County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rolla, with the one closest to Rolla listed first.
    • Lecoma
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Lake Spring
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Lake Spring is located in Dent County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Spring
    • Lenox
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Lenox is located in Dent County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenox
    • Howes
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Howes is located in Dent County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howes
    • Salem
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Sligo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Jack
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Coulstone
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Doss
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Gasconade County
  • Maries County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rolla, with the one closest to Rolla listed first.
    • Vichy
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Vichy is located in Maries County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vichy
    • Lindell
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Lanes Prairie
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Paydown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Vienna
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Brinktown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Brinktown is located in Maries County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brinktown
    • Belle
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
  • Miller County
    • Iberia
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Osage County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rolla, with the one closest to Rolla listed first.
    • Byron
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Freeburg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Koenig
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Argyle
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Argyle is located in Osage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 157 people
    • Koeltztown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Pulaski County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rolla, with the one closest to Rolla listed first.
    • Devils Elbow
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Dixon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • 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>
    • Saint Robert
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Waynesville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Bloodland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Crocker
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Swedeborg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Swedeborg is located in Pulaski County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swedeborg
  • Texas County

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

Cemeteries Near Rolla ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rolla.

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

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

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

  • Rolla Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Hawkins Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Ozark Memorial Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Light Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Goggins Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Wiese Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Line Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Falkenrath Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Flat Grove Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Burton Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Strawhun Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Laney Smith Memorial Garden
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (316 more) ...
    • Thomas Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Brown Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Carney Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Rolla had a population of 1,592 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Rolla had a population of 20,437 people.

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

  • Dillon
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Dillon is located in Phelps County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dillon
  • Newburg
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Newburg is located in Phelps County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 432 people
  • Saint James
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Arlington
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Yancy Mills
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Yancy Mills is located in Phelps County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yancy Mills
  • Safe
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Safe is located in Maries County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Safe
  • Vichy
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Vichy is located in Maries County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vichy
  • Jerome
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Lecoma
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Lake Spring
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Spring is located in Dent County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Spring
  • Lois
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Lois is located in Maries County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lois
  • Clementine
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Clementine is located in Phelps County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clementine
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Hayden
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Hayden is located in Maries County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayden
    • Franks
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Franks is located in Pulaski County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franks
    • High Gate
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • High Gate is located in Maries County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Gate

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Rolla ...

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 95 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rolla.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Rolla. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Rolla and those printed in the larger area surrounding Rolla.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4> of Rolla.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Rolla:

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