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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 Harrod (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 Harrod. 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.

Name Variations for Harrod ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Another variation: Harrods.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Harrod is located in Allen County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Allen County: Auglaize, Hancock, Hardin, Putnam & Van Wert.

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

  • Allen County     (The home county of Harrod)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harrod, with the one closest to Harrod listed first.
    • Lafayette
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Westminster
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Beaverdam
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Lima
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Fort Shawnee
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Fort Shawnee is located in Allen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Shawnee
      • Estimated population in 2012: 3,643 people
    • Cairo
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Cairo is located in Allen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 520 people
    • West Cairo
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • West Cairo is located in Allen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Cairo
    • Bluffton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Elida
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Elida is located in Allen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elida
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,810 people
    • Gomer
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Conant
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Scotts Crossing
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Auglaize County
  • Hancock County
  • Hardin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harrod, with the one closest to Harrod listed first.
    • Alger
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Ada
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Ada is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,532 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ada <1>
    • McGuffey
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • McGuffey is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGuffey
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 484 people
    • Huntersville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Huntersville is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntersville
    • Jumbo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Roundhead
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Dola
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Dunkirk
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Kenton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Grant
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • McVitty
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Patterson
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Patterson is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patterson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 135 people
  • Logan County
  • Marion County
    • La Rue
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • La Rue is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Rue
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 711 people
  • Putnam County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harrod, with the one closest to Harrod listed first.
    • Pandora
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Pandora is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pandora
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,101 people
    • Columbus Grove
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jones City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Jones City is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones City
    • Rimer
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Gilboa
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Ottawa
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Glandorf
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Fort Jennings
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Kalida
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Ottoville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Leipsic Junction
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Leipsic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Shelby County
  • Van Wert County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harrod, with the one closest to Harrod listed first.
    • Converse Station
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Converse
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Monticello
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Venedocia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Venedocia is located in Van Wert County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Venedocia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 118 people
    • Elgin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Middle Point
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Wyandot County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harrod, with the one closest to Harrod listed first.
    • Wharton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Wharton is located in Wyandot County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wharton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 338 people
    • Kirby
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Marseilles
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Marseilles is located in Wyandot County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marseilles
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 106 people

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

Cemeteries Near Harrod ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Harrod.

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 Harrod - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Harrod, with the one closest to Harrod 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Harrod had a population of 269 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Harrod had a population of 406 people.

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

  • Westminster
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • West Newton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • West Newton is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Newton
  • Lafayette
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Alger
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • South Warsaw
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • South Warsaw is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Warsaw
  • Ada
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Ada is located in Hardin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,532 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ada <1>
  • McGuffey
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • McGuffey is located in Hardin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGuffey
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 484 people
  • Yoder
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Yoder is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yoder
  • Beaverdam
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Foraker
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Foraker is located in Hardin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foraker
  • New Hampshire
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Lima
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Harrod ...

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 29 newspapers that have been published in the area around Harrod.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Harrod, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Harrod.

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 Harrod:

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>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 Harrod, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Harrod) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.