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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 Orleans (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 Orleans. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Orleans is located in Harlan 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 Harlan County: Norton (KS), Phillips (KS), Franklin, Furnas, Kearney & Phelps.

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

  • Harlan County     (The home county of Orleans)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
    • Flynn Junction
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flynn Junction
      • Flynn Junction is located in Harlan County
    • Alma
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alma have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma
      • Alma is located in Harlan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,116 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alma <2>
    • Stamford
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Huntley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huntley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntley
      • Huntley is located in Harlan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
    • Mascot
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mascot
      • Mascot is located in Harlan County
    • Republican City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Ragan
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ragan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ragan
      • Ragan is located in Harlan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 38 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ragan <2>
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
    • Naponee
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Bloomington
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Hildreth
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Franklin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Franklin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
      • Franklin is located in Franklin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 899 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Franklin <2>
    • Macon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macon
      • Macon is located in Franklin County
  • Furnas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
    • Oxford
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oxford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxford
      • Oxford is located in Furnas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 711 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oxford <2>
    • Hollinger
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hollinger. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollinger
      • Hollinger is located in Furnas County
    • Edison
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Beaver City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Arapahoe
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hendley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hendley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hendley
      • Hendley is located in Furnas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hendley <2>
  • Kearney County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
    • Wilcox
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wilcox have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilcox
      • Wilcox is located in Kearney County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 349 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wilcox <2>
    • Keene
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keene
      • Keene is located in Kearney County
    • Axtell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Phelps County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
    • Atlanta
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Atlanta. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlanta
      • Atlanta is located in Phelps County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 131 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Atlanta <2>
    • Holdrege
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Sacramento
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sacramento. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sacramento
      • Sacramento is located in Phelps County
    • Loomis
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Funk
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Funk have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Funk
      • Funk is located in Phelps County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 182 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Funk <2>
    • Bertrand
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Norton County (KS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
    • Almena
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Almena have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
      • Almena is located in Norton County (KS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 376 people
    • Norton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norton
      • Norton is located in Norton County (KS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,709 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norton <2>
  • Phillips County (KS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
    • Long Island
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Island
      • Long Island is located in Phillips County (KS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
    • Prairie View
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie View
      • Prairie View is located in Phillips County (KS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
    • Stuttgart
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stuttgart
      • Stuttgart is located in Phillips County (KS)
    • Phillipsburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Phillipsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillipsburg
      • Phillipsburg is located in Phillips County (KS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,420 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Phillipsburg <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Orleans ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Orleans.

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

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

  • Orleans Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Alma Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • German Lutheran Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Lutheran Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Stamford Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stamford Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stamford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Deaver Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Woodruff Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodruff Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woodruff Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Republican City Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Bainbridge Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bainbridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bainbridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Delimont Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Delimont Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Delimont Cemetery is located 9 miles [14.5 km]<5> to the north of Stamford.
    • The Delimont Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Home Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #100794 <4>
  • Continue List   (76 more) ...
    • Spring Grove Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spring Grove Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spring Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Long Island Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Long Island Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Long Island Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Zion Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Orleans had a population of 812 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Orleans had a population of 363 people.

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

  • Alma
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alma have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma
    • Alma is located in Harlan County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,116 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alma <2>
  • Stamford
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Woodruff
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodruff have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodruff
    • Woodruff is located in Phillips County (KS)
  • Mascot
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mascot
    • Mascot is located in Harlan County
  • Huntley
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huntley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntley
    • Huntley is located in Harlan County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
  • Oxford Junction
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oxford Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxford Junction
    • Oxford Junction is located in Harlan County
  • Republican City
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Oxford
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oxford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxford
    • Oxford is located in Furnas County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 711 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oxford <2>
  • Long Island
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Island
    • Long Island is located in Phillips County (KS)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
  • Precept
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Precept have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Precept
    • Precept is located in Furnas County
  • Ragan
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ragan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ragan
    • Ragan is located in Harlan County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 38 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ragan <2>
  • Atlanta
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Atlanta. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlanta
    • Atlanta is located in Phelps County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 131 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Atlanta <2>
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Naponee
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Edison
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Beaver City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Orleans ...

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 39 newspapers that have been published in the area around Orleans.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 Orleans:

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

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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Orleans) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Orleans. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1317, Longitude: -99.4551       In this case, the coordinates for Orleans have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Orleans, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025