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










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Iowa

The Commemorative Quarter for Iowa





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 Early (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 Early. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.

Early is located in Sac County.

To see how the shape of Iowa's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Sac County: Buena Vista, Calhoun, Carroll, Cherokee, Crawford, Ida & Pocahontas.

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

  • Sac County     (The home county of Early)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Early, with the one closest to Early listed first.
    • Nemaha
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nemaha have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nemaha
      • Nemaha is located in Sac County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
    • Schaller
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Sac City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Lake View
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Odebolt
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Wall Lake
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wall Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wall Lake
      • Wall Lake is located in Sac County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 753 people
    • Sac City Junction ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sac City Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sac City Junction
      • Sac City Junction is located in Sac County
    • Herring ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Herring. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herring
      • Herring is located in Sac County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Herring
      • From Early to Herring
    • Grant City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grant City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant City
      • Grant City is located in Sac County
    • Auburn
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Auburn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburn
      • Auburn is located in Sac County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 302 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Auburn <2>
  • Buena Vista County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Early, with the one closest to Early listed first.
    • Juniata
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Lakeside
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakeside have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
      • Lakeside is located in Buena Vista County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 690 people
    • Casino Beach
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Storm Lake
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Newell
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newell
      • Newell is located in Buena Vista County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 859 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newell <2>
    • Alta
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alta
      • Alta is located in Buena Vista County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,916 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alta <2>
    • Truesdale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Truesdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Truesdale
      • Truesdale is located in Buena Vista County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 77 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Truesdale <2>
    • Albert City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Rembrandt
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Elkton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elkton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkton
      • Elkton is located in Buena Vista County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Elkton
      • From Early to Elkton
    • Marathon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Linn Grove
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Calhoun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Early, with the one closest to Early listed first.
    • Lytton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lytton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lytton
      • Lytton is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 285 people
    • Yetter
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yetter have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yetter
      • Yetter is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 31 people
    • Jolley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Sherwood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sherwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherwood
      • Sherwood is located in Calhoun County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sherwood
      • From Early to Sherwood
    • Pomeroy
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pomeroy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pomeroy
      • Pomeroy is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 599 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pomeroy <2>
    • Twin Lakes
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Lake City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Rockwell City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Rands
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rands. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rands
      • Rands is located in Calhoun County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rands
      • From Early to Rands
  • Carroll County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Early, with the one closest to Early listed first.
    • Breda
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Arcadia
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arcadia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcadia
      • Arcadia is located in Carroll County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 531 people
    • Lidderdale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Lanesboro
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lanesboro have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanesboro
      • Lanesboro is located in Carroll County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 108 people
  • Cherokee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Early, with the one closest to Early listed first.
    • Aurelia
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aurelia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurelia
      • Aurelia is located in Cherokee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 952 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Aurelia <2>
    • Quimby
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Cherokee
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Washta
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Crawford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Early, with the one closest to Early listed first.
    • Boyer
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Kiron
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Schleswig
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Schleswig have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schleswig
      • Schleswig is located in Crawford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 857 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Schleswig <2>
    • Deloit
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deloit have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deloit
      • Deloit is located in Crawford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 254 people
    • Vail
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vail have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vail
      • Vail is located in Crawford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 413 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vail <2>
    • Westside
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westside have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westside
      • Westside is located in Crawford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 288 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Westside <2>
  • Ida County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Early, with the one closest to Early listed first.
    • Arthur
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arthur have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthur
      • Arthur is located in Ida County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 194 people
    • Galva
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Ida Grove
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ida Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ida Grove
      • Ida Grove is located in Ida County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,037 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ida Grove <2>
    • Holstein
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holstein have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holstein
      • Holstein is located in Ida County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,367 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holstein <2>
    • Battle Creek
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Battle Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Battle Creek
      • Battle Creek is located in Ida County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 691 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Battle Creek <2>
  • Pocahontas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Early, with the one closest to Early listed first.
    • Fonda
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Varina
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Laurens
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Palmer
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Palmer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmer
      • Palmer is located in Pocahontas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Palmer <2>
  • Woodbury County
    • Cushing
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cushing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cushing
      • Cushing is located in Woodbury County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people

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

Cemeteries Near Early ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Early.

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 Early covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Early, with the one closest to Early 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Early had a population of 277 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Early had a population of 507 people.

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

  • Schaller
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Sac City
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Odebolt
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Lake View
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Sulphur Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sulphur Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
    • Sulphur Springs is located in Buena Vista County
  • Storm Lake
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Newell
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newell
    • Newell is located in Buena Vista County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 859 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newell <2>
  • Arthur
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arthur have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthur
    • Arthur is located in Ida County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 194 people
  • Wall Lake
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wall Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wall Lake
    • Wall Lake is located in Sac County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 753 people
  • Galva
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Hanover
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hanover have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanover
    • Hanover is located in Buena Vista County
  • Carnarvon
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carnarvon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carnarvon
    • Carnarvon is located in Sac County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carnarvon <2>
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Alta
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alta
      • Alta is located in Buena Vista County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,916 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alta <2>
    • Fonda
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Ida Grove
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ida Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ida Grove
      • Ida Grove is located in Ida County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,037 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ida Grove <2>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Early ...

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 118 newspapers that have been published in the area around Early.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 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 Early:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Early. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Sac County: www.saccounty.org/

The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Early) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Early. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4627, Longitude: -95.1514    
<5>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.
<6>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 Early, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025