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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 Guide Rock (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 Guide Rock. 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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Guide Rock is located in Webster 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 Webster County: Jewell (KS), Smith (KS), Adams, Clay, Franklin, Kearney & Nuckolls.

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

  • Webster County     (The home county of Guide Rock)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Guide Rock, with the one closest to Guide Rock listed first.
    • Pawnee Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pawnee Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawnee Village
      • Pawnee Village is located in Webster County
    • Amboy
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amboy
      • Amboy is located in Webster County
    • Cowles
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cowles. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowles
      • Cowles is located in Webster County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 27 people
    • Red Cloud
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Rosemont
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosemont
      • Rosemont is located in Webster County
    • Inavale
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Blue Hill
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blue Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Hill
      • Blue Hill is located in Webster County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 850 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blue Hill <3>
    • Bladen
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Adams County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Guide Rock, with the one closest to Guide Rock listed first.
    • Ayr
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ayr have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayr
      • Ayr is located in Adams County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ayr <3>
    • Roseland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Guide Rock, with the one closest to Guide Rock listed first.
    • Deweese
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Edgar
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Fairfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Glenvil
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Guide Rock, with the one closest to Guide Rock listed first.
    • Riverton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Riverton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
      • Riverton is located in Franklin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 83 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Riverton <3>
    • Campbell
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Campbell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
      • Campbell is located in Franklin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 296 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Campbell <3>
  • Nuckolls County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Guide Rock, with the one closest to Guide Rock listed first.
    • Superior
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Lawrence
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lawrence have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrence
      • Lawrence is located in Nuckolls County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lawrence <3>
    • Nelson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Nora
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nora
      • Nora is located in Nuckolls County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19 people
    • Hardy
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Angus
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angus
      • Angus is located in Nuckolls County
    • Ruskin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ruskin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruskin
      • Ruskin is located in Nuckolls County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 113 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ruskin <3>
    • Oak
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak
      • Oak is located in Nuckolls County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 61 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oak <3>
    • Sedan
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sedan
      • Sedan is located in Nuckolls County
  • Thayer County
    • Byron
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Jewell County (KS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Guide Rock, with the one closest to Guide Rock listed first.
    • Burr Oak
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burr Oak have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burr Oak
      • Burr Oak is located in Jewell County (KS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 160 people
    • Esbon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Esbon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esbon
      • Esbon is located in Jewell County (KS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 91 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Esbon <3>
    • Webber
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Webber have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webber
      • Webber is located in Jewell County (KS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Webber <3>
    • Mankato
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Montrose
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montrose
      • Montrose is located in Jewell County (KS)
      • Former name for Montrose:
      • Delta
    • Formoso
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Formoso
      • Formoso is located in Jewell County (KS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
    • Jewell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jewell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jewell
      • Jewell is located in Jewell County (KS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 396 people
  • Republic County (KS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Guide Rock, with the one closest to Guide Rock listed first.
    • White Rock
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for White Rock. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Rock
      • White Rock is located in Republic County (KS)
    • Republic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Republic
      • Republic is located in Republic County (KS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 106 people
    • Courtland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Smith County (KS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Guide Rock, with the one closest to Guide Rock listed first.
    • Lebanon
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Womer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Womer
      • Womer is located in Smith County (KS)
    • Bellaire
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellaire
      • Bellaire is located in Smith County (KS)

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

Cemeteries Near Guide Rock ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Guide Rock.

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 Guide Rock covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Guide Rock Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Guide Rock Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Guide Rock Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Columbia Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Columbia Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Columbia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maple Grove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Monia Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Monia Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Monia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Beaver Creek Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Beaver Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Beaver Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Martin Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Martin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Martin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wagoner Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wagoner Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wagoner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • North Branch Friends Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Branch Friends Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Branch Friends Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mulkey Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mulkey Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mulkey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Beulah Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Beulah Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Beulah Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Highland Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Highland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (127 more) ...
    • Immanuel Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Immanuel Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Immanuel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Cowles Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Eckley Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eckley Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Eckley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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 Guide Rock had a population of 336 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Guide Rock had a population of 197 people.

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

  • Amboy
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amboy
    • Amboy is located in Webster County
  • Northbranch
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Northbranch have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northbranch
    • Northbranch is located in Jewell County (KS)
  • Bostwick
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bostwick have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bostwick
    • Bostwick is located in Nuckolls County
  • Mount Clare
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Clare have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Clare
    • Mount Clare is located in Nuckolls County
  • Cowles
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cowles. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowles
    • Cowles is located in Webster County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 27 people
  • Red Cloud
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Burr Oak
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burr Oak have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burr Oak
    • Burr Oak is located in Jewell County (KS)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 160 people
  • Superior
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Smyrna
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smyrna have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smyrna
    • Smyrna is located in Nuckolls County
  • Rosemont
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosemont
    • Rosemont is located in Webster County
  • Lawrence
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lawrence have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrence
    • Lawrence is located in Nuckolls County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lawrence <3>
  • Cadams
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cadams have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cadams
    • Cadams is located in Nuckolls County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Nelson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Inavale
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Otego
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Otego have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otego
      • Otego is located in Jewell County (KS)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Guide Rock ...

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 133 newspapers that have been published in the area around Guide Rock.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Guide Rock. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Guide Rock and those printed in the larger area surrounding Guide Rock.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5> of Guide Rock.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Guide Rock:

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

The official website for Webster County: www.co.webster.ne.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Guide Rock, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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- Guide Rock) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Guide Rock. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.0737, Longitude: -98.3288       In this case, the coordinates for Guide Rock have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025