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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 Brocksburg (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 Brocksburg. 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 and hospitals 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.

Brocksburg is located in Keya Paha County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Keya Paha County: Boyd, Brown, Cherry, Holt, Rock, Gregory (SD), Todd (SD) & Tripp (SD).

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

  • Keya Paha County     (The home county of Brocksburg)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brocksburg, with the one closest to Brocksburg listed first.
    • Mills
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Burton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Burton is located in Keya Paha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9 people
    • Carns ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Carns is located in Keya Paha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carns
    • Springview
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Meadville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Meadville is located in Keya Paha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadville
  • Boyd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brocksburg, with the one closest to Brocksburg listed first.
    • Naper
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Butte
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Anoka
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Anoka is located in Boyd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anoka
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6 people
  • Brown County
    • Winfield ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Winfield is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winfield
  • Holt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brocksburg, with the one closest to Brocksburg listed first.
    • Cleveland ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Cleveland is located in Holt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland
    • Dustin
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Dustin is located in Holt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dustin
    • Stuart
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Rock County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brocksburg, with the one closest to Brocksburg listed first.
    • Mariaville ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Mariaville is located in Rock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mariaville
    • Newport
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Bassett
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Gregory County (SD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brocksburg, with the one closest to Brocksburg listed first.
    • Herrick
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Herrick is located in Gregory County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herrick
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Herrick <1>
    • Saint Charles
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Burke
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Burke is located in Gregory County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burke
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 588 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Burke <1>
    • Gregory
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Gregory is located in Gregory County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,250 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gregory <1>
    • Bonesteel
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fairfax
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Fairfax is located in Gregory County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 117 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairfax <1>
    • Dallas
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Dallas is located in Gregory County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dallas
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dallas <1>
    • East Gregory
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • East Gregory is located in Gregory County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Gregory
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 182 people
  • Tripp County (SD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brocksburg, with the one closest to Brocksburg listed first.
    • Wewela
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Colome
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Colome is located in Tripp County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colome
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colome <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Brocksburg ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brocksburg.

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

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

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

  • Spotted Tail Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Emmanuel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Olive Branch Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Oakdale Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Simpson Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • German Congregation Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Congregational Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Naper Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Peace Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Naper Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • German Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Knoll Crest Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (48 more) ...

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>

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

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

  • Mills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Mariaville ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Mariaville is located in Rock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mariaville
  • Carns ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Carns is located in Keya Paha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carns
  • Dustin
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Dustin is located in Holt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dustin
  • Springview
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Newport
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
  • Winfield ‑ Historic
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Winfield is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winfield
  • Stuart
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Butte
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
  • Catalpa ‑ Historic
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Catalpa is located in Holt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catalpa
  • Bassett
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Meadville
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Meadville is located in Keya Paha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadville
  • Wheeler ‑ Historic
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Wheeler is located in Charles Mix County (SD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler

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

Newspapers Published in Brocksburg ...

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 62 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brocksburg.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Brocksburg, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Brocksburg.

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 helpful 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 Brocksburg:

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 Brocksburg, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Brocksburg) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.