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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 Thurston (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 Thurston. 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 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.

Thurston is located in Thurston 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 Thurston County: Monona (IA), Woodbury (IA), Burt, Cuming, Dakota, Dixon & Wayne.

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

  • Thurston County     (The home county of Thurston)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thurston, with the one closest to Thurston listed first.
    • Pender
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Walthill
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walthill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walthill
      • Walthill is located in Thurston County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 836 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Walthill <1>
    • Winnebago
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winnebago have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winnebago
      • Winnebago is located in Thurston County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 924 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winnebago <1>
    • Rosalie
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rosalie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosalie
      • Rosalie is located in Thurston County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rosalie <1>
    • Macy
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Macy have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macy
      • Macy is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Macy <1>
  • Burt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thurston, with the one closest to Thurston listed first.
    • Lyons
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Decatur
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Bertha
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertha
      • Bertha is located in Burt County
    • Oakland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Cedar County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thurston, with the one closest to Thurston listed first.
    • Laurel
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Belden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Cuming County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thurston, with the one closest to Thurston listed first.
    • Bancroft
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Beemer
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Wisner
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • West Point
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Point have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Point
      • West Point is located in Cuming County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,237 people
      • West Point has also been known as:
      • Westpoint
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Point <1>
    • Aloys
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aloys
      • Aloys is located in Cuming County
    • Monterey
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monterey
      • Monterey is located in Cuming County
  • Dakota County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thurston, with the one closest to Thurston listed first.
    • Homer
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Hubbard
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Jackson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jackson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
      • Jackson is located in Dakota County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 199 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jackson <1>
    • Willis
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willis
      • Willis is located in Dakota County
    • Dakota City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • South Sioux City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Sioux City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Sioux City
      • South Sioux City is located in Dakota County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,833 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for South Sioux City <1>
  • Dixon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thurston, with the one closest to Thurston listed first.
    • Emerson
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emerson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerson
      • Emerson is located in Dixon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 789 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Emerson <1>
    • Wakefield
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Allen
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Waterbury
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Concord
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Concord have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
      • Concord is located in Dixon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 151 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Concord <1>
    • Dixon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Martinsburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsburg
      • Martinsburg is located in Dixon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
    • Ponca
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Dodge County
    • Crowell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crowell
      • Crowell is located in Dodge County
  • Stanton County
    • Pilger
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thurston, with the one closest to Thurston listed first.
    • Wayne
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wayne. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayne
      • Wayne is located in Wayne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,758 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wayne <1>
    • Winside
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Carroll
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carroll have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carroll
      • Carroll is located in Wayne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 212 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carroll <1>
  • Monona County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thurston, with the one closest to Thurston listed first.
    • Albaton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albaton
      • Albaton is located in Monona County (IA)
    • Whiting
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Woodbury County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thurston, with the one closest to Thurston listed first.
    • Salix
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Salix have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salix
      • Salix is located in Woodbury County (IA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Salix <1>
    • Sergeant Bluff
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sergeant Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sergeant Bluff
      • Sergeant Bluff is located in Woodbury County (IA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,119 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sergeant Bluff <1>
    • Sloan
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sloan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sloan
      • Sloan is located in Woodbury County (IA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 996 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sloan <1>
    • Glen Ellen
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Ellen
      • Glen Ellen is located in Woodbury County (IA)
    • Sioux City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Regency of Sioux City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Regency of Sioux City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regency of Sioux City
      • Regency of Sioux City is located in Woodbury County (IA)
    • Bronson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bronson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bronson
      • Bronson is located in Woodbury County (IA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 318 people
    • Holiday Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holiday Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Village
      • Holiday Village is located in Woodbury County (IA)
  • Union County (SD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thurston, with the one closest to Thurston listed first.
    • Dakota Dunes
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • North Sioux City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Sioux City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Sioux City
      • North Sioux City is located in Union County (SD)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,952 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for North Sioux City <1>
    • McCook Lake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McCook Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCook Lake
      • McCook Lake is located in Union County (SD)
    • Jefferson
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jefferson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
      • Jefferson is located in Union County (SD)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 515 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jefferson <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Thurston ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Thurston.

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

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

  • Rose Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rose Hill Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Rose Hill Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Pender.
    • The Rose Hill Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Pender Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #101244 <4>
  • St. Peters Lutheran Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Pleasant Valley Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rose Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rose Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rose Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Marks Lutheran Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marks Lutheran Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Marks Lutheran Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Pender.
    • The St. Marks Lutheran Cemetery has also been known as:
    • St. Marks Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #101335 <4>
  • Jopp Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jopp Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jopp Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Covenant Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Pilcher Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Walthill Evergreen Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Meseal Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Meseal Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Meseal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (89 more) ...
    • Green Valley Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Green Valley Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Green Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Grove Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grove Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)

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 Thurston in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Thurston.

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

  • Pender
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Emerson
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emerson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerson
    • Emerson is located in Dixon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 789 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Emerson <1>
  • Wakefield
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Winnebago
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winnebago have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winnebago
    • Winnebago is located in Thurston County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 924 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winnebago <1>
  • Bancroft
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Homer
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Hubbard
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Wayne
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wayne. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayne
    • Wayne is located in Wayne County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,758 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wayne <1>
  • Wisner
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Beemer
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Allen
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Jackson
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jackson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
    • Jackson is located in Dakota County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 199 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jackson <1>
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Waterbury
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Lyons
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Albaton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albaton
      • Albaton is located in Monona County (IA)

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

Newspapers Published in Thurston ...

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 72 newspapers that have been published in the area around Thurston.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Thurston, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Thurston.

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 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 Thurston:

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

The official website for State of Nebraska: https://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>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>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 Thurston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Thurston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Thurston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1769, Longitude: -96.7002       In this case, the coordinates for Thurston have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025