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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 Boys Town (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 Boys Town. 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.

Name Variations for Boys Town ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

Another variation: Boystown.

  • While the name of this village is Boys Town, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Boys Town may originally have been Boy's Town.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Boys Town might be written as Boy Town.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 hospitals and doctors 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.

Boys Town is located in Douglas County.

To see how the shape of Nebraska's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Douglas County: Pottawattamie (IA), Dodge, Sarpy, Saunders & Washington.

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

  • Douglas County     (The home county of Boys Town)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boys Town, with the one closest to Boys Town listed first.
    • Millard
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Omaha
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Irvington
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Irvington. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irvington
      • Irvington is located in Douglas County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Irvington
      • From Boys Town to Irvington
    • Ralston
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ralston have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ralston
      • Ralston is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,254 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ralston <2>
    • Elkhorn
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elkhorn have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
      • Elkhorn is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elkhorn <2>
    • Bennington
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bennington have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennington
      • Bennington is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,518 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bennington <2>
    • Waterloo
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waterloo have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterloo
      • Waterloo is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 914 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Waterloo <2>
    • King Lake
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Home Park
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Elk City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Venice
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Valley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley
      • Valley is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,928 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Valley <2>
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boys Town, with the one closest to Boys Town listed first.
    • Cedar Creek
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Creek
      • Cedar Creek is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 409 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedar Creek <2>
    • Cullom
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cullom. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cullom
      • Cullom is located in Cass County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cullom
      • From Boys Town to Cullom
    • Louisville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • South Bend
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Bend
      • South Bend is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 105 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for South Bend <2>
    • Plattsmouth
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plattsmouth have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plattsmouth
      • Plattsmouth is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,416 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plattsmouth <2>
    • Mynard
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Manley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manley
      • Manley is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 171 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manley <2>
    • Murdock
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Murray
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Wabash
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Weeping Water
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weeping Water have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weeping Water
      • Weeping Water is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,094 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weeping Water <2>
    • Greenwood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Dodge County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boys Town, with the one closest to Boys Town listed first.
    • Fremont
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Inglewood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Inglewood have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inglewood
      • Inglewood is located in Dodge County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 314 people
    • Fontanelle
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Telbasta
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Nickerson
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Ames
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ames have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ames
      • Ames is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ames <2>
    • Winslow
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winslow have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winslow
      • Winslow is located in Dodge County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winslow <2>
  • Sarpy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boys Town, with the one closest to Boys Town listed first.
    • Chalco
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chalco have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalco
      • Chalco is located in Sarpy County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chalco <2>
    • La Vista
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Vista
      • La Vista is located in Sarpy County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,020 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for La Vista <2>
    • Papillion
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Papillion have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Papillion
      • Papillion is located in Sarpy County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,293 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Papillion <2>
    • Richfield
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Gretna
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Springfield
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springfield have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springfield
      • Springfield is located in Sarpy County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,622 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Springfield <2>
    • Bellevue
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • La Platte
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Linoma Beach
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Saunders County
  • Washington County
  • Harrison County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boys Town, with the one closest to Boys Town listed first.
    • California Junction
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Missouri Valley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Missouri Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Missouri Valley
      • Missouri Valley is located in Harrison County (IA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,576 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Missouri Valley <2>
    • Modale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Modale have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Modale
      • Modale is located in Harrison County (IA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 264 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Modale <2>
  • Mills County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boys Town, with the one closest to Boys Town listed first.
    • Pacific City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pacific City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacific City
      • Pacific City is located in Mills County (IA)
    • Mineola
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mineola have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineola
      • Mineola is located in Mills County (IA)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mineola <2>
    • Pacific Junction
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pacific Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacific Junction
      • Pacific Junction is located in Mills County (IA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 332 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pacific Junction <2>
    • Glenwood
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Mills
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mills. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mills
      • Mills is located in Mills County (IA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Mills
      • From Boys Town to Mills
    • Silver City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Pottawattamie County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boys Town, with the one closest to Boys Town listed first.
    • Carter Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Council Bluffs
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Crescent
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crescent have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent
      • Crescent is located in Pottawattamie County (IA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 618 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crescent <2>
    • Chautauqua
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Honey Creek
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Honey Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Creek
      • Honey Creek is located in Pottawattamie County (IA)
    • Dumfries
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Weston
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Weston. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston
      • Weston is located in Pottawattamie County (IA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Weston
      • From Boys Town to Weston
    • Loveland
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loveland have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loveland
      • Loveland is located in Pottawattamie County (IA)
    • Pigeon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pigeon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pigeon
      • Pigeon is located in Pottawattamie County (IA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pigeon
      • From Boys Town to Pigeon
    • McClelland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McClelland have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McClelland
      • McClelland is located in Pottawattamie County (IA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McClelland <2>
    • Underwood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Treynor
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Boys Town ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Boys Town.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Boys Town, with the one closest to Boys Town 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.<6>

While we didn't find Boys Town in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Boys Town.

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

  • Millard
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Chalco
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chalco have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalco
    • Chalco is located in Sarpy County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chalco <2>
  • Omaha
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Irvington
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Irvington. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irvington
    • Irvington is located in Douglas County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Irvington
    • From Boys Town to Irvington
  • Portal
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Portal have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portal
    • Portal is located in Sarpy County
  • Elkhorn
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elkhorn have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
    • Elkhorn is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elkhorn <2>
  • Bennington
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bennington have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennington
    • Bennington is located in Douglas County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,518 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bennington <2>
  • Papillion
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Papillion have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Papillion
    • Papillion is located in Sarpy County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,293 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Papillion <2>
  • Briggs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Briggs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briggs
    • Briggs is located in Douglas County
  • Waterloo
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waterloo have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterloo
    • Waterloo is located in Douglas County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 914 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Waterloo <2>
  • South Omaha
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Omaha have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Omaha
    • South Omaha is located in Douglas County
  • Gretna
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Boys Town ...

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 127 newspapers that have been published in the area around Boys Town.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Boys Town. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Boys Town and those printed in the larger area surrounding Boys Town.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<7> of Boys Town.

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 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 Boys Town:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Boys Town. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Douglas County: www.co.douglas.ne.us/

The official website for State of Nebraska: https://www.nebraska.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<5>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.
<6>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 Boys Town, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<7>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Boys Town) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Boys Town. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.2593, Longitude: -96.1300    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025