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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 Parks (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 Parks. 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.

Parks is located in Dundy 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 Dundy County: Yuma (CO), Cheyenne (KS), Rawlins (KS), Chase, Hayes & Hitchcock.

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

  • Dundy County     (The home county of Parks)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Parks, with the one closest to Parks listed first.
    • Benkelman
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Haigler
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Max
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Ough
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ough
      • Ough is located in Dundy County
  • Chase County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Parks, with the one closest to Parks listed first.
    • Crete
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crete
      • Crete is located in Chase County
    • Champion
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Enders
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Hitchcock County
    • Stratton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Yuma County (CO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Parks, with the one closest to Parks listed first.
    • Laird
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laird
      • Laird is located in Yuma County (CO)
    • Wray
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wray
      • Wray is located in Yuma County (CO)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,353 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wray <1>
  • Cheyenne County (KS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Parks, with the one closest to Parks listed first.
    • Saint Francis
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Wheeler
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler
      • Wheeler is located in Cheyenne County (KS)
    • Bird City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Rawlins County (KS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Parks, with the one closest to Parks listed first.
    • McDonald
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McDonald have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDonald
      • McDonald is located in Rawlins County (KS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
    • Beardsley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beardsley
      • Beardsley is located in Rawlins County (KS)

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

Newspapers Published in Parks ...

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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Parks.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Parks, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Parks.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Parks:

Cemeteries Near Parks ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Parks.

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

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

  • Parks Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Pleasant Valley Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Hackberry Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hackberry Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hackberry Cemetery
  • Benkelman Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Haigler Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Emanuel Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Emanuel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Emanuel Cemetery
  • Barley Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Barley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Barley Cemetery
  • Zion Evangelical Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion Evangelical Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Evangelical Cemetery
  • Hope Valley Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Gar Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gar Cemetery
  • Max Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Lakeview Cemetery is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<3> to the west of Laird (CO).
    • The Lakeview Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Hanshaw Cemetery
    • Laird Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeview Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2261623 <4>
  • Continue List   (41 more) ...
    • German Plains Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the German Plains Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the German Plains Cemetery
    • St. Francis Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Francis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Francis Cemetery
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery

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>

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

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

  • Benkelman
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Haigler
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Max
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Saint Francis
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Wheeler
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler
    • Wheeler is located in Cheyenne County (KS)
  • Laird
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laird
    • Laird is located in Yuma County (CO)
  • Bird City
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Ough
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ough
    • Ough is located in Dundy County
  • McDonald
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McDonald have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDonald
    • McDonald is located in Rawlins County (KS)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
  • Wray
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wray
    • Wray is located in Yuma County (CO)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,353 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wray <1>
  • Stratton
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Champion
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)

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

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

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' (or 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- Parks) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Parks. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.0430, Longitude: -101.7257    
<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 Parks, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024