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 Buena Vista (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 Buena Vista. 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 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.
Buena Vista is primarily located in Clinton County. A portion of Buena Vista extends into Scott 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 Clinton County: Cedar, Jackson, Jones, Scott, Carroll (IL), Rock Island (IL) & Whiteside (IL).
Below are the counties that are near Buena Vista. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Buena Vista:
- Clinton County (The home county of Buena Vista)
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Calamus
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Calamus is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calamus
- Population from the 2020 Census: 397 people
- Grand Mound
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Wheatland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Wheatland is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 724 people
- Bliedorn ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Bliedorn is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bliedorn
- De Witt
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Toronto
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Toronto is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toronto
- Population from the 2020 Census: 119 people
- North Welton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- North Welton is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Welton
- Welton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Welton is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 148 people
- Lost Nation
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Elwood
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Elwood is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elwood
- Folletts
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Folletts is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Folletts
- Delmar
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Charlotte
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Cedar County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Sunbury
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sunbury is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunbury
- Lowden
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Bennett
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Bennett is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennett
- Population from the 2020 Census: 373 people
- Lime City
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Lime City is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime City
- Former names for Lime City:
- Lime Kilns
- Munn
- Clarence
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Tipton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Rochester
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Rochester is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester
- Stanwood
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Buchanan
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Buchanan is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buchanan
- Cedar Valley
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Cedar Valley is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Valley
- Springdale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Springdale is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springdale
- Mechanicsville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Mechanicsville is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,116 people
- Cedar Bluff
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Cedar Bluff is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluff
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Buckhorn
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Buckhorn is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckhorn
- Maquoketa
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Baldwin
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Monmouth
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Monmouth is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monmouth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
- Ironhills
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Ironhills is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironhills
- Preston
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Spragueville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Emeline
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Emeline is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emeline
- Fulton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Fulton is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
- Andrew
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Crab Town
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Crab Town is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crab Town
- Canton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Canton is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canton
- Miles
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Jones County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Oxford Junction
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Oxford Junction is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxford Junction
- Population from the 2020 Census: 480 people
- Oxford Mills
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Oxford Mills is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxford Mills
- Hale
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Hale is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hale
- Wyoming
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Olin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Onslow
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Muscatine County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Stockton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Stockton is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 189 people
- Pleasant Prairie
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant Prairie is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Prairie
- South Towne Park
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- South Towne Park is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Towne Park
- Wilton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Pine Mills ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Pine Mills is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Mills
- Midway Beach
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Midway Beach is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway Beach
- Moscow
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Moscow is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
- Fairport
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Fairport is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairport
- Atalissa
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Muscatine
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- West Liberty
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Scott County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Dixon
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Dixon is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 249 people
- Big Rock
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Big Rock is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rock
- Donahue
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Hickory Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Hickory Grove is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
- Maysville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Maysville is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
- Noel ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Noel is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noel
- New Liberty
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- New Liberty is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Liberty
- Population from the 2020 Census: 143 people
- Long Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Walcott
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Park View
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Park View is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park View
- Eldridge
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Durant
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- McCausland
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- McCausland is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCausland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 311 people
- Henry County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Briar Bluff
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Briar Bluff is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briar Bluff
- Cleveland
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cleveland is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
- Colona
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Dayton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Dayton is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayton
- Green Rock
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Green Rock is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Rock
- Hickory Hills
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Hickory Hills is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hills
- Mercer County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Marston
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Marston is located in Mercer County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marston
- Preemption
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Rock Island County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Moline
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Moline is located in Rock Island County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moline
- Population from the 2020 Census: 41,065 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moline <1>
- Rock Island
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Andalusia
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Hampton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Hampton is located in Rock Island County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hampton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,738 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hampton <1>
- Milan
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Milan is located in Rock Island County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milan
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,945 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milan <1>
- Cordova
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- East Moline
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- East Moline is located in Rock Island County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Moline
- Population from the 2020 Census: 20,473 people
- Port Byron
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Rapids City
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Silvis
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Silvis is located in Rock Island County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silvis
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,473 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silvis <1>
- Edgington
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Edgington is located in Rock Island County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgington
- Carbon Cliff
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Coal Valley
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Whiteside County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Albany
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- East Clinton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- 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 Buena Vista, see our County-by-County Page for Buena Vista.
Cemeteries Near Buena Vista ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Buena Vista.
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 Buena Vista - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Buena Vista covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Union Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Mowder Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Allens Grove Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Alger Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Emmanuel Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Dixon Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Boyd Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Kvindherred Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- St. Patricks Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Big Rock Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Rose Hill Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Continue List (346 more) ...
- Round Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Allison Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Kuebler Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
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 in 1895, Buena Vista had a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Dixon
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Dixon is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 249 people
- Donahue
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Big Rock
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Big Rock is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rock
- Calamus
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Calamus is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calamus
- Population from the 2020 Census: 397 people
- New Liberty
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- New Liberty is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Liberty
- Population from the 2020 Census: 143 people
- Noel ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Noel is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noel
- Grand Mound
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Walcott
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Long Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Wheatland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Wheatland is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 724 people
- Eldridge
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Gambrill ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Gambrill is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gambrill
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- De Witt
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Stockton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Stockton is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 189 people
- Mount Joy
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Joy is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Joy
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Buena Vista. See our List of 1890's Communities around Buena Vista.
Newspapers Published in Buena Vista ...
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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Buena Vista.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Buena Vista, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Buena Vista.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Buena Vista:
- Websites specific to Iowa
- Pages specific to Clinton County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cedar County
- Jackson County
- Jones County
- Muscatine County
- Scott County
- Henry County
- Mercer County
- Rock Island 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 Buena Vista, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Buena Vista) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |