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 Hills (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 Hills. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Hills is located in Johnson 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 Johnson County: Benton, Cedar, Iowa, Linn, Louisa, Muscatine & Washington.
Below are the counties that are near Hills. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Hills:
- Johnson County (The home county of Hills)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hills, with the one closest to Hills listed first.
- River Junction
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- River Junction is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Junction
- University Heights
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- University Heights is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,025 people
- Midway ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Midway is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
- Iowa City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Lone Tree
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Coralville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Oakdale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Oakdale is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakdale
- Frytown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Frytown is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frytown
- Williamstown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Williamstown is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamstown
- Cosgrove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cosgrove is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cosgrove
- Elmira
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Elmira is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmira
- Oasis
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Oasis is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oasis
- Amish
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Amish is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amish
- Cedar County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hills, with the one closest to Hills listed first.
- Downey
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Downey is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downey
- West Branch
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Centerdale
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Centerdale is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerdale
- Springdale
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Springdale is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springdale
- Cedar Valley
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Cedar Valley is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Valley
- Cedar Bluff
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Cedar Bluff is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluff
- Buchanan
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Buchanan is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buchanan
- Rochester
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Rochester is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester
- Lime City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Lime City is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime City
- Former names for Lime City:
- Lime Kilns
- Munn
- Tipton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Mechanicsville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Mechanicsville is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,116 people
- Stanwood
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Henry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hills, with the one closest to Hills listed first.
- Wayland
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Olds
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Olds is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olds
- Population from the 2020 Census: 222 people
- Winfield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Iowa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hills, with the one closest to Hills listed first.
- Amana
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Parnell
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Middle Amana
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Williamsburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Conroy
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Conroy is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conroy
- South Amana
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- West Amana
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- West Amana is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Amana
- North English
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Keokuk County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hills, with the one closest to Hills listed first.
- Kinross
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Kinross is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinross
- Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
- Keota
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Talleyrand
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Talleyrand is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talleyrand
- Harper
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Harper is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harper
- Population from the 2020 Census: 107 people
- South English
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- South English is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South English
- Population from the 2020 Census: 211 people
- Linn County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hills, with the one closest to Hills listed first.
- Ely
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Western
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Western is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Western
- Mount Vernon
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Lincolnway Village
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Lincolnway Village is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincolnway Village
- Lisbon
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Bertram
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Bertram is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertram
- Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
- Walford
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Walford is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,436 people
- Fairfax
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Cedar Rapids
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Grand View Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Grand View Village is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand View Village
- Cedar Hills
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Cedar Hills is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hills
- Louisa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hills, with the one closest to Hills listed first.
- Gladwin
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Gladwin is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladwin
- Cotter
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Cotter is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotter
- Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
- Columbus Junction
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Fredonia
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Fredonia is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredonia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
- Columbus City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Columbus City is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 371 people
- Letts
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Wyman
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Wyman is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyman
- Grandview
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Grandview is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 519 people
- Muscatine County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hills, with the one closest to Hills listed first.
- Nichols
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Nichols is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nichols
- Population from the 2020 Census: 358 people
- West Liberty
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Conesville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Conesville is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 427 people
- Atalissa
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Moscow
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Moscow is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
- Fruitland
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Fruitland is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 966 people
- Muscatine
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Wilton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- South Towne Park
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- South Towne Park is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Towne Park
- Washington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hills, with the one closest to Hills listed first.
- Riverside
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Kalona
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Wellman
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Ainsworth
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Washington
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- West Chester
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- West Chester is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chester
- Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
- Havre
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Havre is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havre
- Nira
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Nira is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nira
- Crawfordsville
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Coppock
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Coppock is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coppock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
- Brighton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Hills, see our County-by-County Page for Hills.
Cemeteries Near Hills ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hills.
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 Hills - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Hills covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Hills, with the one closest to Hills listed first.
- Earhart Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Sandtown Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Cline Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Mentzer Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- St. Stanislaus Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Walker Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Trowbridge - Lenz Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- River Junction Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Fountain Family Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Sharon Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Mt. Olivet Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Riverside Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (375 more) ...
- Thompson - Cherry Pioneer Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Welsh Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welsh Cemetery
- The Welsh Cemetery has also been known as:
- First Welsh Congregational Church Cemetery
- Welsh Pioneer Cemetery
- Welsh UCC Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2163242 <2>
- Yoder Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
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 Hills in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Hills.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Hills, with the one closest to Hills listed first.
- Iowa Junction ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Iowa Junction is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa Junction
- River Junction
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- River Junction is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Junction
- Riverside
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Midway ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Midway is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
- Sharon Center
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Sharon Center is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon Center
- Lone Tree
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Iowa City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Kalona
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Graham ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Graham is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
- Coralville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Downey
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Downey is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downey
- Richmond
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Richmond is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Cosgrove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cosgrove is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cosgrove
- Nichols
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Nichols is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nichols
- Population from the 2020 Census: 358 people
- West Branch
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Hills. See our List of 1890's Communities around Hills.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Hills ...
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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hills.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Hills. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Hills and those printed in the larger area surrounding Hills.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Hills.
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 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 Hills:
- Websites specific to Iowa
- Pages specific to Johnson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cedar County
- Henry County
- Iowa County
- Keokuk County
- Linn County
- Louisa County
- Muscatine County
- Washington 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 Hills, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Hills) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |