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 Cottage Grove (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 Cottage Grove. 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 Cottage Grove ...
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.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Cottage Grove: Cottage Grv.
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 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.
Cottage Grove is located in Dane County.
To see how the shape of Wisconsin's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Dane County: Columbia, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Rock & Sauk.
Below are the counties that are near Cottage Grove. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Cottage Grove:
- Dane County (The home county of Cottage Grove)
- The following are listed by their distance from Cottage Grove, with the one closest to Cottage Grove listed first.
- Pierceville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierceville
- Pierceville is located in Dane County
- Burke
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Deerfield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerfield
- Deerfield is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,540 people
- Sun Prairie
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Prairie
- Sun Prairie is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 35,119 people
- McFarland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Monona
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Marshall
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
- Marshall is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,016 people
- Darwin ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Maple Bluff
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bluff
- Maple Bluff is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,307 people
- Cambridge
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Madison
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madison
- Madison is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 263,094 people
- Mendota
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Columbia County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cottage Grove, with the one closest to Cottage Grove listed first.
- Keyeser
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north) - North Leeds
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Leeds have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Leeds
- North Leeds is located in Columbia County
- Columbus
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus
- Columbus is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,117 people
- Arlington
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
- Arlington is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 818 people
- Otsego
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otsego
- Otsego is located in Columbia County
- Fall River
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall River
- Fall River is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,757 people
- Lodi
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodi
- Lodi is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,109 people
- Doylestown
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doylestown
- Doylestown is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
- Poynette
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest) - Englewood
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englewood
- Englewood is located in Columbia County
- Rio
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north) - Harmony Grove
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Grove
- Harmony Grove is located in Columbia County
- Dodge County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cottage Grove, with the one closest to Cottage Grove listed first.
- Astico
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Astico
- Astico is located in Dodge County
- Reeseville
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reeseville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeseville
- Reeseville is located in Dodge County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 673 people
- Lowell
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast) - Clyman
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Green County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cottage Grove, with the one closest to Cottage Grove listed first.
- Dayton
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayton
- Dayton is located in Green County
- Attica
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attica
- Attica is located in Green County
- Albany
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest) - New Glarus
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Glarus
- New Glarus is located in Green County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,136 people
- Mineral Point
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mineral Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Point
- Mineral Point is located in Green County
- Monticello
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monticello
- Monticello is located in Green County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,185 people
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cottage Grove, with the one closest to Cottage Grove listed first.
- Waterloo
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast) - Lake Ripley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ripley
- Lake Ripley is located in Jefferson County
- Lake Mills
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Mills
- Lake Mills is located in Jefferson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,014 people
- Carcajou
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carcajou
- Carcajou is located in Jefferson County
- Lake Koshkonong
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Koshkonong have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Koshkonong
- Lake Koshkonong is located in Jefferson County
- Jefferson
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east) - Grellton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grellton
- Grellton is located in Jefferson County
- Johnson Creek
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson Creek
- Johnson Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,065 people
- Fort Atkinson
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Atkinson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Atkinson
- Fort Atkinson is located in Jefferson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,372 people
- Helenville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helenville
- Helenville is located in Jefferson County
- Watertown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watertown
- Watertown is located in Jefferson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 23,370 people
- Hebron
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Rock County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cottage Grove, with the one closest to Cottage Grove listed first.
- Cooksville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooksville
- Cooksville is located in Rock County
- Edgerton
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerton
- Edgerton is located in Rock County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,595 people
- Union
(18 miles [29 km] to the south) - Fulton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
- Fulton is located in Rock County
- Evansville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evansville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evansville
- Evansville is located in Rock County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,556 people
- Milton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
- Milton is located in Rock County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,643 people
- Magnolia
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
- Magnolia is located in Rock County
- Lima Center
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lima Center
- Lima Center is located in Rock County
- Footville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Footville
- Footville is located in Rock County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 822 people
- Janesville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Janesville
- Janesville is located in Rock County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 64,664 people
- Sauk County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cottage Grove, with the one closest to Cottage Grove listed first.
- Merrimac
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest) - Prairie du Sac village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie du Sac village
- Prairie du Sac village is located in Sauk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,426 people
- Sauk City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest) - Moon Valley
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moon Valley
- Moon Valley is located in Sauk County
- Walworth County
- Whitewater
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitewater
- Whitewater is located in Walworth County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,993 people
- Whitewater
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Cottage Grove, see our County-by-County Page for Cottage Grove.
Newspapers Published in Cottage Grove ...
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 231 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cottage Grove.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Cottage Grove, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Cottage Grove.
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 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 Cottage Grove:
- Websites specific to Wisconsin
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Website for the //www.wisconsinhistory.org/
- Pages specific to Dane County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Columbia County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Dodge County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Green County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Jefferson County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Rock County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Sauk County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Walworth County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Columbia County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Wisconsin
- Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Cyndi's List
- Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Cemeteries of Dane County
- FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Find-A-Grave: Home Page
- Interment.net
- Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Cemeteries of Dane County
Cemeteries Near Cottage Grove ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cottage Grove.
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 Cottage Grove covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Cottage Grove, with the one closest to Cottage Grove listed first.
- Cottage Grove Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cottage Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cottage Grove Cemetery
- Liberty Prairie Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Liberty Prairie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Liberty Prairie Cemetery
- Pierceville Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pierceville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pierceville Cemetery
- Sun Prairie Memory Garden
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sun Prairie Memory Garden
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2129066 <3>
- Blooming Grove Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blooming Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blooming Grove Cemetery
- Roselawn Memorial Park
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Roselawn Memorial Park
- McFarland Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McFarland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McFarland Cemetery
- Hoepker Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hoepker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hoepker Cemetery
- West Koshkonong Lutheran Church Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Koshkonong Lutheran Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1970970 <3>
- Hauge Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hauge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hauge Cemetery
- Deansville Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Deansville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Deansville Cemetery
- Medina Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Medina Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #88430 <3>
- Continue List (231 more) ...
- Bristol Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bristol Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bristol Cemetery
- Skaalen Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Skaalen Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #89272 <3>
- St. Marys Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
- Bristol 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.<4>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Cottage Grove had a population of 166 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Cottage Grove had a population of 7,158 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Cottage Grove, with the one closest to Cottage Grove listed first.
- Vilas
(Less than 2 miles to the west) - Hope
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Door Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Door Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Door Creek
- Door Creek is located in Dane County
- Nora
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Pierceville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierceville
- Pierceville is located in Dane County
- Burke
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Sun Prairie
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Prairie
- Sun Prairie is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 35,119 people
- Deerfield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerfield
- Deerfield is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,540 people
- Marshall
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
- Marshall is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,016 people
- Deansville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deansville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deansville
- Deansville is located in Dane County
- Darwin ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Utica
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Continue List (14 more) ...
- London
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Cambridge
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Mendota
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- London
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Cottage Grove. See our List of 1890's Communities around Cottage Grove.
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Cottage Grove. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Dane County: www.co.dane.wi.us/
The official website for State of Wisconsin: https://www.wisconsin.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> | 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- Cottage Grove) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cottage Grove. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.0868, Longitude: -89.2007 |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Cottage Grove, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |