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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 Tracy (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 Tracy. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Tracy is located in Platte 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 Platte County: Atchison (KS), Leavenworth (KS), Wyandotte (KS), Buchanan, Clay, Clinton & Jackson.

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

  • Platte County     (The home county of Tracy)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tracy, with the one closest to Tracy listed first.
    • Platte City
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • West Platte
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Woodruff
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Camden Point
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • East Leavenworth
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Weston
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Farley
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Farley is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 304 people
    • Stillings
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Ferrelview
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Ferrelview is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferrelview
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 800 people
    • Ridgely
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Ridgely is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgely
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 112 people
    • Linkville ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Dearborn
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Buchanan County
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tracy, with the one closest to Tracy listed first.
    • Smithville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Barry
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Barry is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barry
    • Nashua
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Acme
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Acme is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acme
    • Linden
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Oakview
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Oakview is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakview
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 393 people
    • Oakwood Park
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Oakwood Park is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood Park
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 198 people
    • Gladstone
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Oaks
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Oaks is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaks
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 135 people
    • Oakwood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Oakwood is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 197 people
    • Woodhill
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Avondale
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Avondale is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 456 people
  • Clinton County
  • DeKalb County
    • Stewartsville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tracy, with the one closest to Tracy listed first.
    • Kansas City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Cement City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Cement City is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cement City
    • River Bend
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • River Bend is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Bend
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10 people
    • Leeds
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Maywood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Independence
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Atherton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Indian Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Indian Village is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
  • Atchison County (KS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tracy, with the one closest to Tracy listed first.
    • Oak Mills
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Port Williams
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Potter
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Atchison
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cummings
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Cummings is located in Atchison County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cummings
    • Goodintent ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Goodintent is located in Atchison County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodintent
    • Farmington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Lancaster
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Lancaster is located in Atchison County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 282 people
  • Doniphan County (KS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tracy, with the one closest to Tracy listed first.
    • Doniphan
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Petersburgh ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Elwood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Palermo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Palermo is located in Doniphan County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palermo
    • Wathena
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Brenner
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Blair
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Blair is located in Doniphan County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blair
  • Jefferson County (KS)
  • Johnson County (KS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tracy, with the one closest to Tracy listed first.
    • Holliday
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Lake Quivira
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Lake Quivira is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Quivira
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 930 people
    • Wilder
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Fairway
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Fairway is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,963 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairway <1>
    • Merriam
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Mission
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Mission is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,873 people
      • Former name for Mission:
      • Mission Hill Acres
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mission <1>
    • Roeland Park
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Shawnee
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Shawnee is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawnee
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 66,298 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shawnee <1>
    • Zarah
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Mission Woods
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Mission Woods is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Woods
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 195 people
    • Westwood Hills
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Westwood Hills is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 390 people
    • Westwood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Westwood is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,642 people
  • Leavenworth County (KS)
  • Wyandotte County (KS)

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

Cemeteries Near Tracy ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Tracy.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Tracy, with the one closest to Tracy 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 Tracy had a population of 320 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Tracy had a population of 362 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Tracy ...

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 124 newspapers that have been published in the area around Tracy.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Tracy, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Tracy.

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 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 Tracy:

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>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- Tracy) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<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 Tracy, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.