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 Hanover (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 Hanover. 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.
Hanover is located in Buena Vista 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 Buena Vista County: Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Ida, O'Brien, Palo Alto, Pocahontas & Sac.
Below are the counties that are near Hanover. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Hanover:
- Buena Vista County (The home county of Hanover)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hanover, with the one closest to Hanover listed first.
- Alta
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- 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>
- Casino Beach
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Casino Beach is located in Buena Vista County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casino Beach
- Storm Lake
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Lakeside
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Lakeside is located in Buena Vista County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
- Population from the 2020 Census: 690 people
- Juniata
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Juniata is located in Buena Vista County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juniata
- Truesdale
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Elkton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Elkton is located in Buena Vista County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkton
- Newell
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Rembrandt
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Linn Grove
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Sioux Rapids
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Albert City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Marathon
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Marathon is located in Buena Vista County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marathon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
- Calhoun County
- Lytton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Lytton is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lytton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 285 people
- Cherokee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hanover, with the one closest to Hanover listed first.
- Aurelia
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Cherokee
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Quimby
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Quimby is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quimby
- Population from the 2020 Census: 291 people
- Washta
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Washta is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 222 people
- Mary Hill
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Mary Hill is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mary Hill
- Meriden
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Meriden is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meriden
- Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
- Larrabee
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Larrabee is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larrabee
- Population from the 2020 Census: 130 people
- Cleghorn
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Cleghorn is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleghorn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 214 people
- Fielding
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Fielding is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fielding
- Marcus
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Clay County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hanover, with the one closest to Hanover listed first.
- Peterson
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Cornell
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cornell is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornell
- Rossie
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Rossie is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossie
- Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
- Webb
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Webb is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webb
- Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
- Greenville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Crawford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hanover, with the one closest to Hanover listed first.
- Kiron
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Boyer
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Boyer is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyer
- Schleswig
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Ida County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hanover, with the one closest to Hanover listed first.
- Galva
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Holstein
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Arthur
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Arthur is located in Ida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthur
- Population from the 2020 Census: 194 people
- Ida Grove
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Battle Creek
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- O'Brien County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hanover, with the one closest to Hanover listed first.
- Calumet
(25 miles [40.2 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
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Paullina
(30 miles [48.3 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
- Plymouth County
- Kingsley
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Pocahontas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hanover, with the one closest to Hanover listed first.
- Varina
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Varina is located in Pocahontas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Varina
- Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
- Fonda
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Sac County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hanover, with the one closest to Hanover listed first.
- Schaller
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Early
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Nemaha
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Nemaha is located in Sac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nemaha
- Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
- Odebolt
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Odebolt is located in Sac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odebolt
- Population from the 2020 Census: 933 people
- Sac City
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Lake View
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Wall Lake
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Wall Lake is located in Sac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wall Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 753 people
- Herring ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Herring is located in Sac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herring
- Sac City Junction ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Sac City Junction is located in Sac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sac City Junction
- Woodbury County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hanover, with the one closest to Hanover listed first.
- Cushing
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Cushing is located in Woodbury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cushing
- Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
- Correctionville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Pierson
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Pierson is located in Woodbury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 349 people
- Anthon
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Hanover, see our County-by-County Page for Hanover.
Cemeteries Near Hanover ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hanover.
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 Hanover - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Hanover covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Hanover, with the one closest to Hanover listed first.
- St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Maple Valley Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Diamond Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Galva Lutheran Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Scandinavian Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Galva City Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Schaller Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Buena Vista Memorial Park
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Pleasant Hill Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Galva Twp. Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Galva Twp. Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (133 more) ...
- Immanuel Reformed Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Hayes Twp. Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Woodlawn Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
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, Hanover had a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Hanover, with the one closest to Hanover listed first.
- Alta
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- 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>
- Galva
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Schaller
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Aurelia
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Storm Lake
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Holstein
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sulphur Springs
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Sulphur Springs is located in Buena Vista County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
- Elkton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Elkton is located in Buena Vista County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkton
- Cherokee
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Early
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Quimby
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Quimby is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quimby
- Population from the 2020 Census: 291 people
- Washta
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Washta is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 222 people
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Cushing
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Cushing is located in Woodbury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cushing
- Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
- Ida Grove
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Arthur
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Arthur is located in Ida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthur
- Population from the 2020 Census: 194 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Hanover. See our List of 1890's Communities around Hanover.
Newspapers Published in Hanover ...
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 110 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hanover.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hanover, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hanover.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Hanover:
- Websites specific to Iowa
- Pages specific to Buena Vista County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Calhoun County
- Cherokee County
- Clay County
- Crawford County
- Ida County
- O'Brien County
- Plymouth County
- Pocahontas County
- Sac County
- Woodbury 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> | 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 Hanover, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Hanover) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |