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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 Ragan (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 Ragan. 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 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 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.

Ragan 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 Ragan. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Ragan:

  • Harlan County     (The home county of Ragan)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ragan, with the one closest to Ragan listed first.
    • Huntley
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • 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
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mascot
      • Mascot is located in Harlan County
    • Alma
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • 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>
    • Republican City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Orleans
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orleans have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans
      • Orleans is located in Harlan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 363 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Orleans <2>
    • Flynn Junction
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flynn Junction
      • Flynn Junction is located in Harlan County
    • Stamford
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Buffalo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ragan, with the one closest to Ragan listed first.
    • Odessa
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Elm Creek
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elm Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Creek
      • Elm Creek is located in Buffalo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 945 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elm Creek <2>
    • Kearney
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ragan, with the one closest to Ragan listed first.
    • Hildreth
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Naponee
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Macon
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macon
      • Macon is located in Franklin County
    • Upland
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Bloomington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Franklin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • 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>
    • Campbell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Campbell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
      • Campbell is located in Franklin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 296 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Campbell <2>
  • Furnas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ragan, with the one closest to Ragan listed first.
    • Oxford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • 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
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hollinger have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollinger
      • Hollinger is located in Furnas County
    • Edison
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Beaver City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Gosper County
    • Smithfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Kearney County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ragan, with the one closest to Ragan listed first.
    • Wilcox
      (7 miles [11.3 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>
    • Axtell
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Keene
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keene
      • Keene is located in Kearney County
    • Minden
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Kearney City ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kearney City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kearney City
      • Kearney City is located in Kearney County
      • Kearney City has also been known as:
      • Dobytown
    • Norman
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Phelps County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ragan, with the one closest to Ragan listed first.
    • Sacramento
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sacramento have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sacramento
      • Sacramento is located in Phelps County
    • Funk
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • 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>
    • Holdrege
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Atlanta
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Atlanta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • 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>
    • Loomis
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bertrand
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Westmark
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westmark
      • Westmark is located in Phelps County
  • Phillips County (KS)
    • Long Island
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Island
      • Long Island is located in Phillips County (KS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Ragan ...

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 67 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ragan.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 Ragan:

Cemeteries Near Ragan ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ragan.

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

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

  • Antelope Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Antelope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Antelope Cemetery
  • Prairie Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prairie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prairie Cemetery
  • Freewater Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Freewater Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Freewater Cemetery
  • Bainbridge Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • 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.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bainbridge Cemetery
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
  • Zion Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • 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.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Cemetery
  • Wilcox Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Prairie Home Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Industry Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Fridhem Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • St. Peters Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Peters Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Peters Cemetery
  • Continue List   (73 more) ...
    • Hildreth Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hildreth Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hildreth Cemetery
    • Keene Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Calvary Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • 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.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Ragan had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Ragan had a population of 38 people.

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

  • Huntley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • 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
  • Sacramento
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sacramento have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sacramento
    • Sacramento is located in Phelps County
  • Wilcox
    (7 miles [11.3 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>
  • Holdrege
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Funk
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • 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>
  • Atlanta
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Atlanta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • 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>
  • Mascot
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mascot
    • Mascot is located in Harlan County
  • Hildreth
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Alma
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • 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>
  • Republican City
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Keene
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keene
    • Keene is located in Kearney County
  • Axtell
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Orleans
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orleans have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans
      • Orleans is located in Harlan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 363 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Orleans <2>
    • Loomis
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Oxford Junction
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • 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

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

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

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 '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- Ragan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ragan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3108, Longitude: -99.2896       In this case, the coordinates for Ragan 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 Ragan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024