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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 Eldridge (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 Eldridge. 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.

Eldridge is located in 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 Scott County: Cedar, Clinton, Muscatine & Rock Island (IL).

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

  • Scott County     (The home county of Eldridge)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Eldridge, with the one closest to Eldridge listed first.
    • Long Grove
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Park View
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Donahue
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Noel ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Noel is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noel
    • Maysville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Maysville is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
    • Davenport
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Hickory Grove
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • McCausland
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • McCausland is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCausland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 311 people
    • Bettendorf
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Panorama Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Panorama Park is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panorama Park
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 331 people
    • Pleasant Valley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Riverdale
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Riverdale is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverdale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 398 people
  • Cedar County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Eldridge, with the one closest to Eldridge listed first.
    • Sunbury
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Bennett
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Bennett is located in Cedar County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennett
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 373 people
    • Lowden
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Lime City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Clarence
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Rochester
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Tipton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Clinton County
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Eldridge, with the one closest to Eldridge listed first.
    • Maquoketa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Preston
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Buckhorn
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Spragueville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Miles
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Jones County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Eldridge, with the one closest to Eldridge listed first.
    • Oxford Junction
      (29 miles [46.7 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
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Muscatine County
  • Henry County (IL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Eldridge, with the one closest to Eldridge listed first.
    • Briar Bluff
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Cleveland
      (17 miles [27.4 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
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Colona is located in Henry County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colona
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,049 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colona <1>
    • Dayton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Green Rock
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Green Rock is located in Henry County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Rock
    • Hickory Hills
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Hickory Hills is located in Henry County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hills
    • Morristown
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Orion
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Geneseo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Osco
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lynn Center
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Andover
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Mercer County (IL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Eldridge, with the one closest to Eldridge listed first.
    • Preemption
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Sherrard
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Marston
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Matherville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Griffin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Shale City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Shale City is located in Mercer County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shale City
  • Rock Island County (IL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Eldridge, with the one closest to Eldridge listed first.
    • Moline
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Rock Island
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Hampton
      (11 miles [17.7 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>
    • East Moline
      (12 miles [19.3 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
    • Cordova
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Cordova is located in Rock Island County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cordova
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 640 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cordova <1>
    • Port Byron
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Rapids City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Silvis
      (13 miles [20.9 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>
    • Milan
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Barstow
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Carbon Cliff
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Coal Valley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Whiteside County (IL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Eldridge, with the one closest to Eldridge listed first.
    • Albany
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Albany is located in Whiteside County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albany
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 856 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Albany <1>
    • Newton Corners
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • East Clinton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Erie
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Erie is located in Whiteside County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,482 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Erie <1>
    • Fulton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fenton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Pratt ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Pratt is located in Whiteside County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt

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

Cemeteries Near Eldridge ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Eldridge.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Eldridge, with the one closest to Eldridge 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 Eldridge had a population of 99 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Eldridge had a population of 6,864 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Eldridge ...

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 159 newspapers that have been published in the area around Eldridge.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Eldridge. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Eldridge and those printed in the larger area surrounding Eldridge.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<3> of Eldridge.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Eldridge:

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 Eldridge, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Eldridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.