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 Hawley (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 Hawley. 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.
Hawley is located in Hancock 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 Hancock County: Cerro Gordo, Franklin, Humboldt, Kossuth, Winnebago, Worth & Wright.
Below are the counties that are near Hawley. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Hawley:
- Hancock County (The home county of Hawley)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hawley, with the one closest to Hawley listed first.
- Crystal Lake
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Crystal Lake is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
- Duncan
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Duncan is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncan
- Garner
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Britt
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Woden
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Hutchins
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Hutchins is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hutchins
- Klemme
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Kanawha
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Goodell
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Goodell is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
- Corwith
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Corwith is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corwith
- Population from the 2020 Census: 245 people
- Cerro Gordo County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hawley, with the one closest to Hawley listed first.
- Ventura
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Clear Lake
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Creamery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Creamery is located in Cerro Gordo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creamery
- Burchinal
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Burchinal is located in Cerro Gordo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burchinal
- Meservey
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Meservey is located in Cerro Gordo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meservey
- Population from the 2020 Census: 237 people
- Thornton
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Thornton is located in Cerro Gordo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 401 people
- Mason City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Swaledale
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Swaledale is located in Cerro Gordo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swaledale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 157 people
- Mason City Junction
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Mason City Junction is located in Cerro Gordo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason City Junction
- Cameron
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Cameron is located in Cerro Gordo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
- Plymouth Junction
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Plymouth Junction is located in Cerro Gordo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth Junction
- Plymouth
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Plymouth is located in Cerro Gordo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 361 people
- Franklin County
- Alexander
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Alexander is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander
- Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people
- Humboldt County
- Renwick
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Kossuth County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hawley, with the one closest to Hawley listed first.
- Wesley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Wesley is located in Kossuth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
- German Valley
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- German Valley is located in Kossuth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for German Valley
- Titonka
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Titonka is located in Kossuth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Titonka
- Population from the 2020 Census: 433 people
- Sexton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Sexton is located in Kossuth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sexton
- Lakota
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Lakota is located in Kossuth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakota
- Population from the 2020 Census: 275 people
- Bancroft
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Bancroft is located in Kossuth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bancroft
- Population from the 2020 Census: 684 people
- Burt
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Burt is located in Kossuth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burt
- Population from the 2020 Census: 493 people
- Gerled
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Gerled is located in Kossuth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gerled
- Ledyard
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Irvington
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Irvington is located in Kossuth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irvington
- Lu Verne
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Algona
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Winnebago County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hawley, with the one closest to Hawley listed first.
- Forest City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Leland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Leland is located in Winnebago County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
- Thompson
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Lake Mills
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Vinje
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Vinje is located in Winnebago County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinje
- Buffalo Center
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Scarville
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Rake
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Rake is located in Winnebago County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
- Worth County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hawley, with the one closest to Hawley listed first.
- Fertile
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Hanlontown
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Hanlontown is located in Worth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanlontown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
- Joice
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Joice is located in Worth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joice
- Population from the 2020 Census: 209 people
- Bristol
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bristol is located in Worth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol
- Manly
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Silver Lake
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Silver Lake is located in Worth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
- Kensett
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Kensett is located in Worth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kensett
- Population from the 2020 Census: 249 people
- Northwood
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Bolan
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Bolan is located in Worth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolan
- Wright County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hawley, with the one closest to Hawley listed first.
- Olaf
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Olaf is located in Wright County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olaf
- Belmond
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Cornelia
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Cornelia is located in Wright County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornelia
- Faribault County (MN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hawley, with the one closest to Hawley listed first.
- Kiester
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Bricelyn
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Bricelyn is located in Faribault County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bricelyn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 334 people
- Walters
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Walters is located in Faribault County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walters
- Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
- Elmore
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Elmore is located in Faribault County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 613 people
- Frost
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Frost is located in Faribault County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frost
- Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Frost <1>
- Dell
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Dell is located in Faribault County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dell
- Freeborn County (MN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hawley, with the one closest to Hawley listed first.
- Emmons
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Emmons is located in Freeborn County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmons
- Population from the 2020 Census: 380 people
- Twin Lakes
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Twin Lakes is located in Freeborn County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
- Conger
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Conger is located in Freeborn County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conger
- Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Hawley, see our County-by-County Page for Hawley.
Cemeteries Near Hawley ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hawley.
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 Hawley - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Hawley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Hawley, with the one closest to Hawley listed first.
- Madison Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Madison Twp. Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- St. James Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Oakland Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Crystal Twp. Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- St. John Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- St. Boniface Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Ellington Prairie Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Ellington Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Pilot Knob Lutheran Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Mt. Valley Twp. Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Forest Home Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Continue List (176 more) ...
- West Prairie Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Evergreen Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Britt.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #94704 <2>
- National Hobo Memorial
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
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.<3>
While we didn't find Hawley in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Hawley.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Hawley, with the one closest to Hawley listed first.
- Hayfield
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Hayfield is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayfield
- Miller
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Miller is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miller
- Forest City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Crystal Lake
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Crystal Lake is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
- Garner
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Leland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Leland is located in Winnebago County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
- Britt
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Thompson
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Hutchins
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Hutchins is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hutchins
- Fertile
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Klemme
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Stilson
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Stilson is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stilson
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Clear Lake
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Lake Mills
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Wesley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Wesley is located in Kossuth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Hawley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Hawley.
Newspapers Published in Hawley ...
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 105 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hawley.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hawley, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hawley.
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 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 Hawley:
- Websites specific to Iowa
- Pages specific to Hancock County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cerro Gordo County
- Franklin County
- Humboldt County
- Kossuth County
- Winnebago County
- Worth County
- Wright County
- Faribault County
- Freeborn 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> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Hawley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Hawley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |