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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 Cherokee (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 Cherokee. 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 doctors and 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.

Cherokee is located in Cherokee County and is the County Seat.

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 Cherokee County: Buena Vista, Clay, Ida, O'Brien, Plymouth, Sac, Sioux & Woodbury.

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

  • Cherokee County     (The home county of Cherokee)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cherokee, with the one closest to Cherokee listed first.
    • Meriden
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Aurelia
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Mary Hill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Larrabee
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Cleghorn
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Cleghorn is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleghorn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 214 people
    • Quimby
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Fielding
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Marcus
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Washta
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Buena Vista County
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cherokee, with the one closest to Cherokee listed first.
    • Peterson
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Cornell
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Rossie
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Rossie is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
    • Royal
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Greenville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Everly
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Everly is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 541 people
    • Webb
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Ida County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cherokee, with the one closest to Cherokee listed first.
    • Holstein
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Galva
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Ida Grove
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Arthur
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Arthur is located in Ida County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthur
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 194 people
    • Battle Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • O'Brien County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cherokee, with the one closest to Cherokee listed first.
    • Calumet
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Calumet is located in O'Brien County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calumet
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
    • Sutherland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Paullina
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Paullina is located in O'Brien County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paullina
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 965 people
    • Germantown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Primghar
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Archer
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Moneta
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Moneta is located in O'Brien County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moneta
    • Hartley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Sanborn
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Plymouth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cherokee, with the one closest to Cherokee listed first.
    • Remsen
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Kingsley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • O'Leary
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Oyens
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Oyens is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oyens
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
  • Sac County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cherokee, with the one closest to Cherokee listed first.
    • Schaller
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Early
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Nemaha
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Nemaha is located in Sac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nemaha
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
  • Sioux County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cherokee, with the one closest to Cherokee listed first.
    • Granville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Granville is located in Sioux County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
    • Alton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Hospers
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Woodbury County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cherokee, with the one closest to Cherokee listed first.
    • Cushing
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Cushing is located in Woodbury County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cushing
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
    • Pierson
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Pierson is located in Woodbury County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 349 people
    • Correctionville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Anthon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Cherokee ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cherokee.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Cherokee, with the one closest to Cherokee 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 Cherokee had a population of 3,441 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Cherokee had a population of 4,841 people.

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

  • Meriden
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Aurelia
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Larrabee
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Quimby
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Elkton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Cleghorn
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Cleghorn is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleghorn
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 214 people
  • Calumet
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Calumet is located in O'Brien County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calumet
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
  • Fielding
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Hanover
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Hanover is located in Buena Vista County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanover
  • Alta
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Alta is located in Buena Vista County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alta
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,916 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alta <1>
  • Marcus
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Washta
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Peterson
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Sutherland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Paullina
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Paullina is located in O'Brien County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paullina
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 965 people

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Cherokee ...

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 103 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cherokee.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Cherokee. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Cherokee and those printed in the larger area surrounding Cherokee.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Cherokee.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start 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 Cherokee:

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 Cherokee, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Cherokee) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.