RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Iowa >> Dubuque County >> Durango >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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

Durango is located in Dubuque 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 Dubuque County: Clayton, Delaware, Jackson, Jones, Jo Daviess (IL) & Grant (WI).

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

  • Dubuque County     (The home county of Durango)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Durango, with the one closest to Durango listed first.
    • Sageville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Sageville is located in Dubuque County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sageville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
    • Sherrill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Asbury
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Asbury is located in Dubuque County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asbury
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,841 people
    • Rickardsville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Rickardsville is located in Dubuque County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rickardsville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
    • Old Balltown
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Dubuque
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Centralia
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Centralia is located in Dubuque County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centralia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
    • Graf
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Graf is located in Dubuque County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graf
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 81 people
    • Balltown
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Key West
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Rockdale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Peosta
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Waupeton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Clayton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Durango, with the one closest to Durango listed first.
    • North Buena Vista
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • North Buena Vista is located in Clayton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Buena Vista
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
    • Turkey River
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Millville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Guttenberg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Osterdock
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Garber
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Elkport
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Elkport is located in Clayton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkport
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 36 people
    • Wood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Clayton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Delaware County
  • Jackson County
  • Jones County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Durango, with the one closest to Durango listed first.
    • Clay Mills
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Clay Mills is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay Mills
    • Monticello
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Jo Daviess County (IL)
  • Grant County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Durango, with the one closest to Durango listed first.
    • Sinnipee ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Rutledge
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Potosi
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Dickeyville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Dickeyville is located in Grant County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickeyville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,020 people
    • Tennyson
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Tennyson is located in Grant County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tennyson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 339 people
    • Jamestown
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Cassville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Cuba City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Cuba City is located in Grant County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,047 people
    • Hazel Green
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Hazel Green is located in Grant County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel Green
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,219 people
    • Beetown
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Platteville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Platteville is located in Grant County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platteville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,650 people
    • Lancaster
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • North Andover
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Iowa County (WI)
    • Rewey
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Lafayette County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Durango, with the one closest to Durango listed first.
    • Benton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Benton is located in Lafayette County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 966 people
    • Elk Grove
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Etna
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • New Diggings
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • White Oak
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Belmont
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Fort Gratiot ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Shullsburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Shullsburg is located in Lafayette County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shullsburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,192 people

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

Cemeteries Near Durango ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Durango.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Durango, with the one closest to Durango 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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Durango had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Durango had a population of 19 people.

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

  • Lore
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Lore is located in Dubuque County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lore
  • Sageville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Sageville is located in Dubuque County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sageville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
  • Sherrill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Julien
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Julien is located in Dubuque County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Julien
  • Center Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Center Grove is located in Dubuque County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Grove
  • Rickardsville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Rickardsville is located in Dubuque County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rickardsville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
  • Graf
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Graf is located in Dubuque County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graf
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 81 people
  • Centralia
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Centralia is located in Dubuque County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centralia
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
  • Dubuque
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Rutledge
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Balltown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Cottage Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Cottage Hill is located in Dubuque County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Hill
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Durango ...

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 90 newspapers that have been published in the area around Durango.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Durango, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Durango.

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 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 Durango:

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>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 Durango, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Durango) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.