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 Waco (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 Waco. 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 hospitals and 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.
Waco is located in Jasper 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 Jasper County: Cherokee (KS), Crawford (KS), Barton, Dade, Lawrence & Newton.
Below are the counties that are near Waco. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Waco:
- Jasper County (The home county of Waco)
- The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
- Asbury
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Medoc
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Medoc is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medoc
- Smithfield
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Smithfield is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithfield
- Carl Junction
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Opolis
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Opolis is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opolis
- Dupont ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Dupont is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dupont
- Klondike
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Klondike is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klondike
- Thoms
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Thoms is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thoms
- Neck City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Neck City is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neck City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 196 people
- Purcell
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Airport Drive
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Airport Drive is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airport Drive
- Population from the 2020 Census: 862 people
- Oronogo
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Alba
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Alba is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alba
- Population from the 2020 Census: 537 people
- Barton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
- Nashville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Nashville is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashville
- Mindenmines
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Oakton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Oakton is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakton
- Burgess
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Burgess is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burgess
- Estimated population in 2017: 54 people
- Liberal
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Liberal is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberal
- Population from the 2020 Census: 702 people
- Lamar Heights
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Lamar Heights is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamar Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 173 people
- Lamar
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Kenoma
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Kenoma is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenoma
- Golden City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Irwin
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Irwin is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwin
- Bushnell
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Bushnell is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushnell
- Newton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
- Dennis Acres
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Dennis Acres is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennis Acres
- Population from the 2020 Census: 72 people
- Grand Falls Plaza
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Grand Falls Plaza is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Falls Plaza
- Population from the 2020 Census: 112 people
- Cliff Village
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Cliff Village is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliff Village
- Population from the 2020 Census: 39 people
- Leawood
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Leawood is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leawood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 678 people
- Shoal Creek Drive
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Shoal Creek Drive is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoal Creek Drive
- Population from the 2020 Census: 327 people
- Redings Mill
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Redings Mill is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redings Mill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 150 people
- Shoal Creek Estates
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Shoal Creek Estates is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoal Creek Estates
- Population from the 2020 Census: 92 people
- Saginaw
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Saginaw is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saginaw
- Population from the 2020 Census: 305 people
- Silver Creek
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Silver Creek is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
- Estimated population in 2012: 631 people
- Loma Linda
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Loma Linda is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loma Linda
- Population from the 2020 Census: 782 people
- Spring City
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Spring City is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring City
- Diamond
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Diamond is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond
- Population from the 2020 Census: 909 people
- Former names for Diamond:
- Diamond Grove
- Diamond Mill
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Diamond <1>
- Racine
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Racine is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Racine
- Cherokee County (KS)
- The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
- Lawton
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Lawton is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawton
- Badger
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Badger is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Badger
- Crestline
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Crestline is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crestline
- Dutch Hollow ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Dutch Hollow is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutch Hollow
- Weir
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Weir is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weir
- Population from the 2020 Census: 634 people
- Barrett ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Barrett is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrett
- Coal Valley ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Coal Valley is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Valley
- Empire City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Empire City is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire City
- Quaker
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Quaker is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quaker
- East Galena
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- East Galena is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Galena
- Galena
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Scammon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Skidmore
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Skidmore is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skidmore
- Crawford County (KS)
- The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
- Opolis
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Opolis is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opolis
- Kirkwood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Kirkwood is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkwood
- Klendike
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Klendike is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klendike
- Pittsburg
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Cherokee
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Cornell
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Cornell is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornell
- Frontenac
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Lone Oak
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Lone Oak is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Oak
- Yale
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Yale is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yale
- Capaldo
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Capaldo is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capaldo
- Curranville
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Curranville is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curranville
- Fox Town
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Fox Town is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Town
- Beulah
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Beulah is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beulah
- Labette County (KS)
- The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
- Strauss
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Strauss is located in Labette County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strauss
- Oswego
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Chetopa
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Ottawa County (OK)
- The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
- Hockerville ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Hockerville is located in Ottawa County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hockerville
- Picher ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Lincolnville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Lincolnville is located in Ottawa County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincolnville
- Quapaw
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Peoria
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Peoria is located in Ottawa County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peoria
- Population from the 2020 Census: 135 people
- Cardin
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Commerce
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- North Miami
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- North Miami is located in Ottawa County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Miami
- Population from the 2020 Census: 370 people
- Ottawa
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Ottawa is located in Ottawa County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottawa
- Miami
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Miami is located in Ottawa County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miami
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,947 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Miami <1>
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Waco, see our County-by-County Page for Waco.
Cemeteries Near Waco ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Waco.
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 Waco - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Waco covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
- Waco Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Mound Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Carl Junction Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Pleasant Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Georgia City Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Lone Oak Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Old Pleasant View Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Howard Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Twin Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Wirtonia Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sherwood Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Gresham Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (222 more) ...
- New Pleasant View Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Messer Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Messer Cemetery
- The Messer Cemetery has also been known as:
- Spring River Falls Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #93033 <2>
- Weaver Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
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 Waco had a population of 220 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Waco had a population of 93 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
- Galesburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Galesburg is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galesburg
- Smithfield
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Smithfield is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithfield
- Carl Junction
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Medoc
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Medoc is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medoc
- Dupont ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Dupont is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dupont
- Opolis
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Opolis is located in Crawford County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opolis
- Crestline
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Crestline is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crestline
- Thoms
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Thoms is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thoms
- Oronogo
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Tuckahoe
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Tuckahoe is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuckahoe
- Webb City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Alba
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Alba is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alba
- Population from the 2020 Census: 537 people
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Weir
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Weir is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weir
- Population from the 2020 Census: 634 people
- Empire City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Empire City is located in Cherokee County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire City
- West Joplin
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- West Joplin is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Joplin
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Waco. See our List of 1890's Communities around Waco.
Newspapers Published in Waco ...
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 91 newspapers that have been published in the area around Waco.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Waco, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Waco.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Waco:
- Websites specific to Missouri
- Pages specific to Jasper County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Barton County
- Newton County
- Cherokee County
- Crawford County
- Labette County
- Ottawa 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 Waco, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Waco) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |