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The Commemorative Quarter for Nebraska





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 North Platte (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 North Platte. 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.

Name Variations for North Platte ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for North Platte: N. Platte

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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.

North Platte is located in Lincoln County and is the County Seat.

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 Lincoln County: Custer, Dawson, Frontier, Hayes, Keith, Logan, McPherson & Perkins.

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

  • Lincoln County     (The home county of North Platte)
    • The following are listed by their distance from North Platte, with the one closest to North Platte listed first.
    • Birdwood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Birdwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdwood
      • Birdwood is located in Lincoln County
    • Bignell
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bignell
      • Bignell is located in Lincoln County
    • Maxwell
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maxwell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxwell
      • Maxwell is located in Lincoln County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 289 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maxwell <2>
    • Hershey
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hershey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hershey
      • Hershey is located in Lincoln County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 644 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hershey <2>
    • Sutherland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Brady
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brady have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brady
      • Brady is located in Lincoln County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 419 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brady <2>
    • Somerset
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Somerset have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerset
      • Somerset is located in Lincoln County
    • Dickens
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dickens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickens
      • Dickens is located in Lincoln County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dickens <2>
    • Wellfleet
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Wallace
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Keith County
    • The following are listed by their distance from North Platte, with the one closest to North Platte listed first.
    • Sarben
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sarben
      • Sarben is located in Keith County
    • Paxton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Logan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from North Platte, with the one closest to North Platte listed first.
    • Gandy
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gandy
      • Gandy is located in Logan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 31 people
    • Stapleton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • McPherson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from North Platte, with the one closest to North Platte listed first.
    • Ringgold
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ringgold
      • Ringgold is located in McPherson County
    • Tryon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of North Platte ...

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 80 newspapers that have been published in the area around North Platte.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 North Platte:

Cemeteries Near North Platte ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of North Platte.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from North Platte, with the one closest to North Platte 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that North Platte had a population of 3,055 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, North Platte had a population of 23,202 people.

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

  • Birdwood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Birdwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdwood
    • Birdwood is located in Lincoln County
  • Maxwell
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maxwell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxwell
    • Maxwell is located in Lincoln County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 289 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maxwell <2>
  • Hershey
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hershey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hershey
    • Hershey is located in Lincoln County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 644 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hershey <2>
  • Myrtle ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Myrtle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myrtle
    • Myrtle is located in Lincoln County
  • O'Fallons
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for O'Fallons have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for O'Fallons
    • O'Fallons is located in Lincoln County
  • Somerset
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Somerset have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerset
    • Somerset is located in Lincoln County
  • Dickens
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dickens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickens
    • Dickens is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dickens <2>
  • Wellfleet
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
  • Gandy
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gandy
    • Gandy is located in Logan County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 31 people
  • Vroman
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vroman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vroman
    • Vroman is located in Lincoln County
  • Wallace
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)

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

The official website for North Platte: www.ci.north-platte.ne.us/

The official website for Lincoln County: www.co.lincoln.ne.us/

The official website for State of Nebraska: 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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- North Platte) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in North Platte. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.1366, Longitude: -100.7632    
<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>To help visualize the location of the cemetery, we've drawn a straight line between the communities of North Platte and Stapleton. The cemetery can be found near that line and roughly halfway between the two communities. Remember that this is just an approximate location.
<6>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 North Platte, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024