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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 Havre (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 Havre. 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 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.

Havre is located in Washington 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 Washington County: Henry, Iowa, Jefferson, Johnson, Keokuk & Louisa.

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

  • Washington County     (The home county of Havre)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Havre, with the one closest to Havre listed first.
    • Ainsworth
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Crawfordsville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Washington
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Coppock
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Coppock is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coppock
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
    • West Chester
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • West Chester is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chester
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
    • Brighton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Riverside
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Kalona
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Kalona is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kalona
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,560 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kalona <1>
    • Rubio
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Rubio is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rubio
    • Wellman
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Nira
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Cedar County
    • Downey
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Downey is located in Cedar County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downey
  • Des Moines County
  • Henry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Havre, with the one closest to Havre listed first.
    • Wayland
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Olds
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Swedesburg
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Winfield
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Mount Union
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Mount Union is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Union
      • Estimated population in 2017: 107 people
    • Mount Pleasant
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Rome
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Rome is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rome
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 117 people
    • Westwood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Westwood is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 107 people
    • Oakland Mills
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • New London
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Salem
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Hillsboro
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Hillsboro is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsboro
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 173 people
    • Lowell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Iowa County
  • Jefferson County
  • Johnson County
  • Keokuk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Havre, with the one closest to Havre listed first.
    • Talleyrand
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Keota
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Richland
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Kinross
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Kinross is located in Keokuk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinross
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
    • Harper
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Harper is located in Keokuk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harper
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 107 people
    • Ollie
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • South English
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Nugent
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Nugent is located in Keokuk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nugent
  • Louisa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Havre, with the one closest to Havre listed first.
    • Cotter
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Cotter is located in Louisa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotter
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
    • Wyman
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Gladwin
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Columbus City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Columbus City is located in Louisa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 371 people
    • Columbus Junction
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Fredonia
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Fredonia is located in Louisa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredonia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
    • Letts
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Grandview
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Grandview is located in Louisa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 519 people
    • Morning Sun
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Wapello
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Elrick Junction
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Muscatine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Havre, with the one closest to Havre listed first.
    • Conesville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Nichols
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Nichols is located in Muscatine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nichols
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 358 people
    • Fruitland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • West Liberty
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Van Buren County

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

Cemeteries Near Havre ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Havre.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Havre, with the one closest to Havre 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Havre had a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Ainsworth
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Crawfordsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Noble
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Noble is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noble
  • Washington
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Wayland
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Cotter
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Cotter is located in Louisa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotter
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
  • Coppock
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Coppock is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coppock
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
  • Olds
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Wyman
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Swedesburg
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Grace Hill
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Grace Hill is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace Hill
  • Brighton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Merrimac
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Merrimac is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrimac
    • Winfield
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Columbus City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Columbus City is located in Louisa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 371 people

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

Newspapers Published in Havre ...

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 106 newspapers that have been published in the area around Havre.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Havre, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Havre.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Havre:

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>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- Havre) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Havre, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.