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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 Heber (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 Heber. 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 and doctors 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.

Heber is located in Merrick 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 Merrick County: Hall, Hamilton, Howard, Nance, Platte & Polk.

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

  • Merrick County     (The home county of Heber)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Heber, with the one closest to Heber listed first.
    • Central City
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Paddock
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Paddock is located in Merrick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paddock
    • Hord
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Hord is located in Merrick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hord
    • Archer
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Clarks
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Chapman
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Worms
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Worms is located in Merrick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worms
    • Palmer
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Silver Creek
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Greeley County
    • Wolbach
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Hall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Heber, with the one closest to Heber listed first.
    • Grand Island
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Alda
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Hamilton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Heber, with the one closest to Heber listed first.
    • Overland
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Overland is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overland
    • Hordville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Kronborg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Kronborg is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kronborg
    • Marquette
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Aurora
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Hampton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Phillips
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Giltner
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Stockham
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Stockham is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 44 people
  • Howard County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Heber, with the one closest to Heber listed first.
    • Saint Libory
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Cushing
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Cushing is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cushing
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 33 people
    • Saint Paul
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Dannebrog
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Nance County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Heber, with the one closest to Heber listed first.
    • Fullerton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Merchiston
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Merchiston is located in Nance County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merchiston
    • Krakow
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Krakow is located in Nance County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Krakow
    • Belgrade
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Genoa
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Platte County
    • Gardiner
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Gardiner is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardiner
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Heber, with the one closest to Heber listed first.
    • Polk
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Swedehome
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Swedehome is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swedehome
    • Stromsburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Osceola
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Shelby
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • York County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Heber, with the one closest to Heber listed first.
    • Arborville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Arborville is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arborville
    • Bradshaw
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Benedict
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Henderson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • York
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Thayer
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Thayer is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thayer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 49 people
    • Lushton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Lushton is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lushton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 29 people
    • Gresham
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Waco
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Heber ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Heber.

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

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

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

  • Central City Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Mamre Evangelical Free Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Fridhem Lutheran Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Bluff Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • George Western Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Burke Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Johns Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Johns Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Johns Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the south of Kronborg.
    • The St. Johns Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Kronborg Cemetery
    • St. Johns Lutheran Church Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2147647 <2>
  • North Blue Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Lindale Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lindale Cemetery
    • The Lindale Cemetery has also been known as:
    • First Baptist Church of Hardville Cemetery
    • Hordville Baptist Cemetery
    • Swedish Baptist Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #100906 <2>
  • Immanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Laclede Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (113 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.<4>

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

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

  • Central City
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Paddock
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Paddock is located in Merrick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paddock
  • Marquette
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Archer
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Clarks
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Chapman
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Arborville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Arborville is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arborville
  • Havens
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Havens is located in Merrick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havens
  • Aurora
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Hampton
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Swedehome
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Swedehome is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swedehome
  • Palmer
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Lockwood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Lockwood is located in Merrick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockwood
    • Fullerton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Bradshaw
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Heber ...

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 67 newspapers that have been published in the area around Heber.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Heber, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Heber.

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 Heber:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Heber) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Heber, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.