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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 Litchfield (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 Litchfield. 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.

Litchfield is located in Sherman 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 Sherman County: Buffalo, Custer, Greeley, Howard & Valley.

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

  • Sherman County     (The home county of Litchfield)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Litchfield, with the one closest to Litchfield listed first.
    • Hazard
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Loup City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loup City
      • Loup City is located in Sherman County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 960 people
      • Loup City has also been known as:
      • Loup
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Loup City <1>
    • Rockville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • North Loup City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Loup City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Loup City
      • North Loup City is located in Sherman County
    • Ashton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Buffalo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Litchfield, with the one closest to Litchfield listed first.
    • Sweetwater
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
      • Sweetwater is located in Buffalo County
    • Sartoria
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sartoria
      • Sartoria is located in Buffalo County
    • Pleasanton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Poole
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poole
      • Poole is located in Buffalo County
    • Ravenna
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Miller
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Prairie Center
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Center
      • Prairie Center is located in Buffalo County
    • Amherst
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Riverdale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riverdale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverdale
      • Riverdale is located in Buffalo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Riverdale <1>
  • Custer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Litchfield, with the one closest to Litchfield listed first.
    • Mason City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mason City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason City
      • Mason City is located in Custer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 169 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mason City <1>
    • Ansley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Cumro ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumro
      • Cumro is located in Custer County
    • Westerville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Buckeye
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
      • Buckeye is located in Custer County
    • Berwyn
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berwyn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berwyn
      • Berwyn is located in Custer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 79 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Berwyn <1>
    • Weissert
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Wescott
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wescott
      • Wescott is located in Custer County
    • Comstock
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Comstock have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comstock
      • Comstock is located in Custer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Comstock <1>
    • Broken Bow
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broken Bow
      • Broken Bow is located in Custer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,437 people
      • Broken Bow has also been known as:
      • Brokenbow
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Broken Bow <1>
  • Dawson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Litchfield, with the one closest to Litchfield listed first.
    • Sumner
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Eddyville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Hall County
    • Cairo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Howard County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Litchfield, with the one closest to Litchfield listed first.
    • Boelus
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Howard City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Howard City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard City
      • Howard City is located in Howard County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 187 people
    • Dannevirke
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dannevirke
      • Dannevirke is located in Howard County
    • Farwell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Nysted
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nysted
      • Nysted is located in Howard County
    • Cotesfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cotesfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotesfield
      • Cotesfield is located in Howard County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 49 people
  • Valley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Litchfield, with the one closest to Litchfield listed first.
    • Arcadia
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • North Loup
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Litchfield ...

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 75 newspapers that have been published in the area around Litchfield.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Litchfield. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Litchfield and those printed in the larger area surrounding Litchfield.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Litchfield.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Litchfield:

Cemeteries Near Litchfield ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Litchfield.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Litchfield, with the one closest to Litchfield 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Litchfield had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Litchfield had a population of 248 people.

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

  • Hazard
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Mason City
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mason City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason City
    • Mason City is located in Custer County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 169 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mason City <1>
  • Sweetwater
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
    • Sweetwater is located in Buffalo County
  • Sartoria
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sartoria
    • Sartoria is located in Buffalo County
  • Loup City
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loup City
    • Loup City is located in Sherman County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 960 people
    • Loup City has also been known as:
    • Loup
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Loup City <1>
  • Pleasanton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Ansley
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Ravenna
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Rockville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Cumro ‑ Historic
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumro
    • Cumro is located in Custer County
  • Nantasket ‑ Historic
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nantasket have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nantasket
    • Nantasket is located in Buffalo County
  • Arcadia
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Ashton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Miller
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Westerville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)

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

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

The official website for Sherman County: www.co.sherman.ne.us/

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

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 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.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Litchfield) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Litchfield. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.1560, Longitude: -99.1531       In this case, the coordinates for Litchfield have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<5>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 Litchfield, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024