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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Riverdale (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 Riverdale. 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.

Riverdale is located in Buffalo County.

To see how the shape of Nebraska's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Buffalo County: Adams, Custer, Dawson, Hall, Howard, Kearney, Phelps & Sherman.

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

  • Buffalo County     (The home county of Riverdale)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
    • Glenwood Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Glenwood Park is located in Buffalo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood Park
    • Amherst
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Prairie Center
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Prairie Center is located in Buffalo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Center
    • Kearney
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Odessa
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Buda
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Buda is located in Buffalo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buda
    • Elm Creek
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Pleasanton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Sartoria
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Sartoria is located in Buffalo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sartoria
    • Miller
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Gibbon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Poole
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Poole is located in Buffalo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poole
    • Sweetwater
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Sweetwater is located in Buffalo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
  • Adams County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
    • Kenesaw
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Hayland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Hayland is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayland
  • Custer County
    • Cumro ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Cumro is located in Custer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumro
  • Dawson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
    • Overton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Sumner
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Eddyville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Lexington
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Hall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
    • Cameron
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Cameron is located in Hall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
    • Wood River
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Howard County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
    • Boelus
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Howard City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Howard City is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 187 people
  • Kearney County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
    • Kearney City ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Kearney City is located in Kearney County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kearney City
      • Kearney City has also been known as:
      • Dobytown
    • Newark
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Newark is located in Kearney County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newark
    • Valley City ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Valley City is located in Kearney County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley City
    • Axtell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Minden
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Heartwell
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Keene
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Keene is located in Kearney County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keene
    • Wilcox
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Norman
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Phelps County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
    • Funk
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Westmark
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Westmark is located in Phelps County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westmark
    • Sacramento
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Sacramento is located in Phelps County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sacramento
    • Holdrege
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Loomis
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Bertrand
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Sherman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
    • Hazard
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Litchfield
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Rockville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Riverdale ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Riverdale.

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.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Riverdale - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Riverdale covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Riverdale had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Riverdale had a population of 179 people.

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

  • Glenwood Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Glenwood Park is located in Buffalo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood Park
  • Amherst
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Odessa
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Kearney
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Prairie Center
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Prairie Center is located in Buffalo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Center
  • Buda
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Buda is located in Buffalo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buda
  • Elm Creek
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Sartoria
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Sartoria is located in Buffalo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sartoria
  • Pleasanton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Newark
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Newark is located in Kearney County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newark
  • Miller
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Gibbon
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Lowell
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Lowell is located in Kearney County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
    • Sweetwater
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Sweetwater is located in Buffalo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
    • Overton
      (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 Riverdale. See our List of 1890's Communities around Riverdale.

Newspapers Published in Riverdale ...

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 154 newspapers that have been published in the area around Riverdale.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Riverdale, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Riverdale.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Riverdale:

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 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.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Riverdale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 Riverdale, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.