RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Missouri >> Sainte Genevieve County >> Zell >> 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 Zell (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 Zell. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Zell is located in Sainte Genevieve 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 Sainte Genevieve County: Monroe (IL), Randolph (IL), Jefferson, Perry & Saint Francois.

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

  • Sainte Genevieve County     (The home county of Zell)
  • Bollinger County
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Zell, with the one closest to Zell listed first.
    • Flucom
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Knorpp
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Valles Mines
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Olympian Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Olympian Village is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olympian Village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 752 people
    • Festus
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Crystal City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Herculaneum
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • De Soto
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hematite
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Hematite is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hematite
    • Horine
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Horine is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horine
    • Pevely
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Pevely is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pevely
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,001 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pevely <1>
    • Mapaville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Mapaville is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mapaville
  • Madison County
  • Perry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Zell, with the one closest to Zell listed first.
    • Lithium
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Lithium is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lithium
    • McBride
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Sereno
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Silver Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Perryville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Millheim
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Longtown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Biehle
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Biehle is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biehle
    • Eureka
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Eureka is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
    • Farrar
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Farrar is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farrar
  • Saint Francois County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Zell, with the one closest to Zell listed first.
    • French Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Farmington
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Leadington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Cantwell
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Esther
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Esther is located in Saint Francois County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esther
    • Park Hills
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Desloge
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Desloge is located in Saint Francois County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Desloge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,900 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Desloge <1>
    • Flat River
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Flat River is located in Saint Francois County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat River
    • Silver Springs
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Knob Lick
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Bonne Terre
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Elvins
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Elvins is located in Saint Francois County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elvins
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Zell, with the one closest to Zell listed first.
    • French Town
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • French Town is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Town
    • Tiff
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Tiff is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiff
    • Cadet
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Irondale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Summit
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Jackson County (IL)
  • Monroe County (IL)
  • Perry County (IL)
    • Willisville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Randolph County (IL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Zell, with the one closest to Zell listed first.
    • Prairie du Rocher
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Prairie du Rocher is located in Randolph County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie du Rocher
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 548 people
      • Prairie du Rocher has also been known as:
      • Prairie du Rocher village
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prairie du Rocher <1>
    • Modoc
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Dozaville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Kaskaskia
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Kaskaskia is located in Randolph County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kaskaskia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13 people
    • Ellis Grove
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Evansville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Ruma
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Ruma is located in Randolph County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruma
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ruma
      • From Zell to Ruma
    • Menard
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Chester
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • New Palestine
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Preston
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Preston is located in Randolph County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
    • Walsh
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Saint Clair County (IL)
  • Washington County (IL)

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

Cemeteries Near Zell ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Zell.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Zell, with the one closest to Zell 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Zell had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • New Offenburg
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Weingarten
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • River aux Vases
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Sainte Genevieve
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Bloomsdale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Lawrenceton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Modoc
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Prairie du Rocher
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Prairie du Rocher is located in Randolph County (IL)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie du Rocher
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 548 people
    • Prairie du Rocher has also been known as:
    • Prairie du Rocher village
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prairie du Rocher <1>
  • Kinsey
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Mill
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Mill is located in Sainte Genevieve County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill
  • Jonca
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Coffman
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Minnith
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Saint Mary
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Kaskaskia
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Kaskaskia is located in Randolph County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kaskaskia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13 people

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

Newspapers Published in Zell ...

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 86 newspapers that have been published in the area around Zell.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Zell, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Zell.

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 Zell:

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 Zell, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Zell) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.