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 Bridgeport (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 Bridgeport. 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 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.
Bridgeport is located in Jackson County.
To see how the shape of Iowa's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Jackson County: Clinton, Dubuque, Jones, Carroll (IL) & Jo Daviess (IL).
Below are the counties that are near Bridgeport. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bridgeport:
- Jackson County (The home county of Bridgeport)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bridgeport, with the one closest to Bridgeport listed first.
- Maquoketa
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Andrew
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Fulton
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Fulton is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
- Buckhorn
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Buckhorn is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckhorn
- Ironhills
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Ironhills is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironhills
- Springbrook
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Spragueville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Cottonville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Cottonville is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonville
- Crab Town
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Crab Town is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crab Town
- Emeline
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Emeline is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emeline
- Baldwin
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Preston
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Monmouth
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Monmouth is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monmouth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
- Cedar County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bridgeport, with the one closest to Bridgeport listed first.
- Lowden
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Clarence
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Bennett
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Bennett is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennett
- Population from the 2020 Census: 373 people
- Stanwood
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Clinton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bridgeport, with the one closest to Bridgeport listed first.
- Delmar
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Elwood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Elwood is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elwood
- North Welton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- North Welton is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Welton
- Welton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Welton is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 148 people
- Charlotte
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bliedorn ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Bliedorn is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bliedorn
- Lost Nation
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Goose Lake
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Goose Lake is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goose Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
- Bryant
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Bryant is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant
- Tenmile
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Tenmile is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenmile
- Toronto
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Toronto is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toronto
- Population from the 2020 Census: 119 people
- De Witt
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Grand Mound
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Dubuque County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bridgeport, with the one closest to Bridgeport listed first.
- Zwingle
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Zwingle is located in Dubuque County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zwingle
- Population from the 2020 Census: 93 people
- Washington Mills
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Washington Mills is located in Dubuque County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washington Mills
- Bernard
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Fillmore
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Fillmore is located in Dubuque County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fillmore
- Wilkins
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Wilkins is located in Dubuque County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkins
- Massey
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Massey is located in Dubuque County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massey
- Cascade
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Cattese
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Cattese is located in Dubuque County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cattese
- Key West
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Key West is located in Dubuque County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Key West
- Rockdale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Rockdale is located in Dubuque County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale
- Peosta
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Centralia
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Centralia is located in Dubuque County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centralia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
- Dubuque
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Jones County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bridgeport, with the one closest to Bridgeport listed first.
- Clay Mills
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Clay Mills is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay Mills
- Oxford Junction
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Oxford Junction is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxford Junction
- Population from the 2020 Census: 480 people
- Oxford Mills
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Oxford Mills is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxford Mills
- Onslow
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Wyoming
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Hale
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Hale is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hale
- Center Junction
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Center Junction is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Junction
- Estimated population in 2015: 111 people
- Olin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Amber
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Amber is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amber
- Monticello
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Scott County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bridgeport, with the one closest to Bridgeport listed first.
- Noel ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Noel is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noel
- Big Rock
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Big Rock is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rock
- Dixon
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Dixon is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 249 people
- McCausland
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- McCausland is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCausland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 311 people
- Donahue
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Long Grove
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Park View
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Park View is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park View
- New Liberty
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- New Liberty is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Liberty
- Population from the 2020 Census: 143 people
- Eldridge
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Hickory Grove
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Hickory Grove is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
- Maysville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Maysville is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
- Carroll County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bridgeport, with the one closest to Bridgeport listed first.
- Arnold
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Arnold is located in Carroll County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
- Blackhawk
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Blackhawk is located in Carroll County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackhawk
- Marcus
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Marcus is located in Carroll County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
- Savanna
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Ayers
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Ayers is located in Carroll County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayers
- Hickory Grove
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Hickory Grove is located in Carroll County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
- Thomson
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Center Hill
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Center Hill is located in Carroll County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Hill
- Wacker
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Wacker is located in Carroll County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wacker
- Jo Daviess County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bridgeport, with the one closest to Bridgeport listed first.
- Aiken
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Aiken is located in Jo Daviess County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aiken
- Galena Junction
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Galena Junction is located in Jo Daviess County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galena Junction
- Hanover
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Bremen
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Bremen is located in Jo Daviess County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bremen
- Galena
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Galena is located in Jo Daviess County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galena
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,151 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Galena <1>
- Elizabeth
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- East Dubuque
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Menominee
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Menominee is located in Jo Daviess County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menominee
- Population from the 2020 Census: 241 people
- Whiteside County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bridgeport, with the one closest to Bridgeport listed first.
- Fulton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Fulton is located in Whiteside County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,285 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fulton <1>
- Albany
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- East Clinton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- East Clinton is located in Whiteside County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Clinton
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Bridgeport, see our County-by-County Page for Bridgeport.
Cemeteries Near Bridgeport ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bridgeport.
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 Bridgeport - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Bridgeport covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bridgeport, with the one closest to Bridgeport listed first.
- Bridgeport Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Baden Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Mt. Hope Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Sacred Heart Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Codfish Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Jessen Farm Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Jessen Farm Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Miller Estate Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Miller Estate Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Tilton Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Rathbun Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rathbun Cemetery
- The Rathbun Cemetery has also been known as:
- Haylock Farm Cemetery
- West Union Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #95915 <2>
- Dark Hollow Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (336 more) ...
- Dark Hollow Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- St. Johns Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Andrew Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andrew Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Andrew Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Andrew.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #201457 <2>
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>
While we didn't find Bridgeport in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bridgeport.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Bridgeport, with the one closest to Bridgeport listed first.
- Maquoketa
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Andrew
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Fulton
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Fulton is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
- Delmar
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Riggs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Riggs is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riggs
- Browns
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Browns is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns
- Nashville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Nashville is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashville
- Elwood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Elwood is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elwood
- Ironhills
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Ironhills is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironhills
- Springbrook
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Otter Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Otter Creek is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otter Creek
- Spragueville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Cottonville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Cottonville is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonville
- Emeline
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Emeline is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emeline
- Baldwin
(11 miles [17.7 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 Bridgeport. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bridgeport.
Newspapers Published in Bridgeport ...
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 105 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bridgeport.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bridgeport, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bridgeport.
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 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 Bridgeport:
- Websites specific to Iowa
- Pages specific to Jackson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cedar County
- Clinton County
- Dubuque County
- Jones County
- Scott County
- Carroll County
- Jo Daviess County
- Whiteside County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Iowa
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 Bridgeport, 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' (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- Bridgeport) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |