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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Helena. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Helena to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Helena, please Contact Us.

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 Helena (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 Helena. 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 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 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Helena is historic, it would have been located within present day Johnson 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 Johnson County: Gage, Lancaster, Nemaha, Otoe & Pawnee.

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

  • Johnson County     (The home county of Helena)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helena, with the one closest to Helena listed first.
    • Cook
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Cook is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cook
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cook <2>
    • Saint Mary
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Saint Mary is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Mary
    • Sterling
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Tecumseh
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Graf ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Graf is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graf
    • Vesta
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Vesta is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vesta
    • Crab Orchard
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Elk Creek
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helena, with the one closest to Helena listed first.
    • Avoca
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Elmwood
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Eagle
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Alvo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Wabash
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Wabash is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wabash
    • Weeping Water
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Nehawka
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Union
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Manley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Murdock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Gage County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helena, with the one closest to Helena listed first.
    • Adams
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Filley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Virginia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Cortland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Rockford
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Rockford is located in Gage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockford
    • Pickrell
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Holmesville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Beatrice
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Lancaster County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helena, with the one closest to Helena listed first.
    • Panama
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Bennet
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Firth
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Firth is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Firth
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 619 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Firth <2>
    • Holland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Holland is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland
    • Hickman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cheney
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Cheney is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheney
    • Hanlon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Hanlon is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanlon
    • Roca
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Roca is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roca
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 358 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roca <2>
    • Princeton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Princeton is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Princeton
    • Pine Lake
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Pine Lake is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Lake
    • Walton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Sprague
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • College View
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • College View is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College View
  • Nemaha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helena, with the one closest to Helena listed first.
    • Johnson
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Brock
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Rohrs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Rohrs is located in Nemaha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rohrs
    • Julian
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Julian is located in Nemaha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Julian
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
    • Auburn
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Howe
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Howe is located in Nemaha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howe
    • Peru
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Otoe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helena, with the one closest to Helena listed first.
    • Burr
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Douglas
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Syracuse
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Talmage
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Unadilla
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Lorton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Dunbar
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Otoe
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Palmyra
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Nebraska City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Wyoming
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Wyoming is located in Otoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyoming
  • Pawnee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helena, with the one closest to Helena listed first.
    • Lewiston
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Steinauer
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Table Rock
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Burchard
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Pawnee City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Richardson County
    • Humboldt
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Fremont County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helena, with the one closest to Helena listed first.
    • Payne
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Payne is located in Fremont County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Payne
    • Percival
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Helena ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Helena.

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

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

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

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

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

  • Burr
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Cook
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Cook is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cook
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cook <2>
  • Sterling
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Tecumseh
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Douglas
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Vesta
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Vesta is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vesta
  • Graf ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Graf is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graf
  • Syracuse
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Talmage
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Unadilla
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Adams
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Lorton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Pella ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Pella is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pella
    • Crab Orchard
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Johnson
      (14 miles [22.5 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 Helena. See our List of 1890's Communities around Helena.

Newspapers Published in Helena ...

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 49 newspapers that have been published in the area around Helena.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Helena, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Helena.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Helena:

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Helena, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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- Helena) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.