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 Hicks (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 Hicks. 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.
Hicks is located in Black Hawk 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 Black Hawk County: Benton, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Fayette, Grundy & Tama.
Below are the counties that are near Hicks. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Hicks:
- Black Hawk County (The home county of Hicks)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hicks, with the one closest to Hicks listed first.
- Voorhies
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Voorhies is located in Black Hawk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voorhies
- Hudson
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Blessing
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Blessing is located in Black Hawk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blessing
- Eagle Center
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Eagle Center is located in Black Hawk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Center
- Cedar City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Cedar City is located in Black Hawk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar City
- Cedar Falls
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- North Cedar
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- North Cedar is located in Black Hawk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Cedar
- Waterloo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Evansdale
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Gilbertville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Gilbertville is located in Black Hawk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbertville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 725 people
- Elk Run Heights
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Elk Run Heights is located in Black Hawk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Run Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,135 people
- La Porte City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Raymond
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Raymond is located in Black Hawk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
- Population from the 2020 Census: 788 people
- Benton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hicks, with the one closest to Hicks listed first.
- Mount Auburn
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Mount Auburn is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Auburn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
- Garrison
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Garrison is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garrison
- Population from the 2020 Census: 355 people
- Vinton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Keystone
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bremer County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hicks, with the one closest to Hicks listed first.
- Denver
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Waverly
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Klinger
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Klinger is located in Bremer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klinger
- Knittel
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Knittel is located in Bremer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knittel
- Bremer
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Bremer is located in Bremer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bremer
- Readlyn
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Buchanan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hicks, with the one closest to Hicks listed first.
- Shady Grove
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Shady Grove is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
- Brandon
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Brandon is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 320 people
- Butler County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hicks, with the one closest to Hicks listed first.
- Sinclair
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Sinclair is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sinclair
- New Hartford
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Parkersburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Coster
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Coster is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coster
- Aplington
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Shell Rock
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Austinville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Austinville is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austinville
- Butler Center
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Butler Center is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler Center
- Kesley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Kesley is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kesley
- Clarksville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Allison
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Grundy County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hicks, with the one closest to Hicks listed first.
- Reinbeck
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Morrison
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Fredsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Fredsville is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredsville
- Dike
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Grundy Center
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Holland
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Fern
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Fern is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern
- Stout
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Stout is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stout
- Population from the 2020 Census: 214 people
- Beaman
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Beaman is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaman
- Population from the 2020 Census: 183 people
- Buck Grove
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Buck Grove is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck Grove
- Conrad
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Wellsburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Hardin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hicks, with the one closest to Hicks listed first.
- Whitten
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Whitten is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitten
- Population from the 2020 Census: 140 people
- Cleves
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Cleves is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleves
- Steamboat Rock
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Abbott
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Abbott is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbott
- Eldora
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Gifford
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Union
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Union is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Population from the 2020 Census: 373 people
- Ackley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Marshall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hicks, with the one closest to Hicks listed first.
- Green Mountain
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Green Mountain is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Mountain
- Le Grand
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Liscomb
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Liscomb is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liscomb
- Population from the 2020 Census: 296 people
- Albion
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Marshalltown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Dillon
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Dillon is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dillon
- Marietta
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Marietta is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marietta
- Tama County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hicks, with the one closest to Hicks listed first.
- Dinsdale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Dinsdale is located in Tama County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dinsdale
- Lincoln
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Lincoln is located in Tama County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
- Population from the 2020 Census: 148 people
- Buckingham
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Buckingham is located in Tama County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckingham
- Traer
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Gladbrook
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Dysart
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Clutier
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Garwin
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Garwin is located in Tama County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garwin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 490 people
- Toledo
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Gladstone
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Gladstone is located in Tama County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladstone
- Tama
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Vining
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Vining is located in Tama County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vining
- Population from the 2020 Census: 49 people
- Elberon
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Hicks, see our County-by-County Page for Hicks.
Cemeteries Near Hicks ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hicks.
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 Hicks - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Hicks covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Hicks, with the one closest to Hicks listed first.
- Lincoln Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Weiss Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Cedar Valley Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Reinbeck City Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Calvary Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Hudson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Zion Lutheran Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Hillcrest Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Blessing Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Grant Twp. Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Washington Twp. Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Continue List (264 more) ...
- Amity Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Fairfield Twp. Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Dinsdale Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
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 Hicks in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Hicks.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Hicks, with the one closest to Hicks listed first.
- Reinbeck
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Hudson
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Morrison
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Dinsdale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Dinsdale is located in Tama County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dinsdale
- Lincoln
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Lincoln is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
- Fredsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Fredsville is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredsville
- Eagle Center
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Eagle Center is located in Black Hawk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Center
- Dairyville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Dairyville is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dairyville
- Traer
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Cedar Falls
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Swanton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Swanton is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swanton
- Grundy Center
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Washburn
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Waterloo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Holland
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Hicks. See our List of 1890's Communities around Hicks.
Newspapers Published in Hicks ...
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 154 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hicks.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hicks, 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 Hicks.
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 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 Hicks:
- Websites specific to Iowa
- Pages specific to Black Hawk County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Benton County
- Bremer County
- Buchanan County
- Butler County
- Grundy County
- Hardin County
- Marshall County
- Tama 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 Hicks, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Hicks) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |