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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 Hopeville (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 Hopeville. 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 and doctors 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.

Hopeville is located in Clarke 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 Clarke County: Decatur, Lucas, Madison, Ringgold, Union, Warren & Wayne.

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

  • Clarke County     (The home county of Hopeville)
  • Adair County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopeville, with the one closest to Hopeville listed first.
    • Zion
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Hebron
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Hebron is located in Adair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
    • Orient
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Stanzel
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Adams County
    • Stringtown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Stringtown is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
  • Decatur County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopeville, with the one closest to Hopeville listed first.
    • Grand River
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Grand River is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand River
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
    • Van Wert
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Decatur City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Decatur City is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decatur City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
    • Leon
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Garden Grove
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Garden Grove is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
    • Le Roy
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Lamoni
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Davis City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Woodland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Pleasanton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Morgan
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Lucas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopeville, with the one closest to Hopeville listed first.
    • Derby
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Derby is located in Lucas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 111 people
    • Lucas
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Madison County
  • Ringgold County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopeville, with the one closest to Hopeville listed first.
    • Beaconsfield
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Beaconsfield is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaconsfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15 people
    • Ellston
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Ellston is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 38 people
    • Tingley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Kellerton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Knowlton ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Diagonal
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Mount Ayr
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Benton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Benton is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 40 people
    • Delphos
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Delphos is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delphos
      • Estimated population in 2019: 24 people
    • Maloy
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Redding
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Redding is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redding
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 77 people
  • Taylor County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopeville, with the one closest to Hopeville listed first.
    • Clearfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Lenox
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Union County
  • Warren County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopeville, with the one closest to Hopeville listed first.
    • New Virginia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Saint Marys
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Saint Marys is located in Warren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Marys
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 127 people
    • Cool
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Bevington
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Wayne County
  • Harrison County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopeville, with the one closest to Hopeville listed first.
    • Hatfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Hatfield is located in Harrison County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatfield
    • Akron
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Hopeville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hopeville.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Hopeville, with the one closest to Hopeville listed first.

  • Hopeville Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Homewood Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Leas Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Reasoner Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Gregg Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Claypool Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Warrick Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • O'Grady Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Westervelt Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Sanders Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Troy Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Cornwall Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (262 more) ...
    • Pumptown Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Thayer Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Tennessee Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)

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 Hopeville had a population of 193 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Thayer
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Lacelle
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Murray
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Murray is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murray
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 681 people
  • Grand River
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Grand River is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand River
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
  • Talmage
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Talmage is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talmage
  • Afton Junction ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Afton Junction is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Afton Junction
  • Beaconsfield
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Beaconsfield is located in Ringgold County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaconsfield
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 15 people
  • Monette
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Monette is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monette
  • Leslie
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Leslie is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leslie
  • Groveland ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Groveland is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groveland
  • Van Wert
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Green Bay ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Hopeville ...

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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hopeville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hopeville, 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 Hopeville.

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 either 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 Hopeville:

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 Hopeville, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Hopeville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.