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 Mount Joy (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 Mount Joy. 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.
Name Variations for Mount Joy ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Mount Joy: Mt. Joy
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Mount Joy. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Mount Joy.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
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 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 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.
Mount Joy is located in Scott 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 Scott County: Cedar, Clinton, Muscatine & Rock Island (IL).
Below are the counties that are near Mount Joy. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Mount Joy:
- Scott County (The home county of Mount Joy)
- The following are listed by their distance from Mount Joy, with the one closest to Mount Joy listed first.
- Eldridge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Long Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Park View
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Park View is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park View
- Davenport
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Bettendorf
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Pleasant Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Donahue
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Panorama Park
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Panorama Park is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panorama Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 331 people
- Riverdale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Riverdale is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverdale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 398 people
- Maysville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Maysville is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
- Noel ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Noel is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noel
- Hickory Grove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Hickory Grove is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
- Cedar County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mount Joy, with the one closest to Mount Joy listed first.
- Sunbury
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Sunbury is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunbury
- Bennett
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Bennett is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennett
- Population from the 2020 Census: 373 people
- Lowden
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Lime City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Lime City is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime City
- Former names for Lime City:
- Lime Kilns
- Munn
- Rochester
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Rochester is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester
- Tipton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Clinton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mount Joy, with the one closest to Mount Joy listed first.
- De Witt
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Folletts
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Folletts is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Folletts
- Grand Mound
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Shaffton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Shaffton is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaffton
- Low Moor
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Calamus
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Calamus is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calamus
- Population from the 2020 Census: 397 people
- Camanche
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Bliedorn ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Bliedorn is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bliedorn
- North Welton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- North Welton is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Welton
- Welton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Welton is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 148 people
- Elvira
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Elvira is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elvira
- Wheatland
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Wheatland is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 724 people
- Muscatine County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mount Joy, with the one closest to Mount Joy listed first.
- Stockton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Stockton is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 189 people
- Midway Beach
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Midway Beach is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway Beach
- Pleasant Prairie
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Pleasant Prairie is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Prairie
- Pine Mills ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Pine Mills is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Mills
- Fairport
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Fairport is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairport
- South Towne Park
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- South Towne Park is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Towne Park
- Wilton
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Moscow
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Moscow is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
- Muscatine
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Henry County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Mount Joy, with the one closest to Mount Joy listed first.
- Cleveland
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cleveland is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
- Colona
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Green Rock
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Green Rock is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Rock
- Briar Bluff
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Briar Bluff is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briar Bluff
- Dayton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Dayton is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayton
- Hickory Hills
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Hickory Hills is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hills
- Morristown
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Morristown is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morristown
- Orion
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Osco
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Geneseo
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Lynn Center
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Andover
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Mercer County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Mount Joy, with the one closest to Mount Joy listed first.
- Preemption
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Sherrard
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Matherville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Marston
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Marston is located in Mercer County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marston
- Griffin
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Griffin is located in Mercer County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffin
- Shale City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Shale City is located in Mercer County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shale City
- Gilchrist
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Gilchrist is located in Mercer County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilchrist
- Viola
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- New Windsor
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- New Windsor is located in Mercer County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Windsor
- Windsor
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Windsor is located in Mercer County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor
- Population from the 2020 Census: 760 people
- Aledo
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Eliza
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Eliza is located in Mercer County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eliza
- Rock Island County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Mount Joy, with the one closest to Mount Joy listed first.
- Moline
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Moline is located in Rock Island County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moline
- Population from the 2020 Census: 41,065 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moline <1>
- Rock Island
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- East Moline
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- East Moline is located in Rock Island County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Moline
- Population from the 2020 Census: 20,473 people
- Hampton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hampton is located in Rock Island County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hampton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,738 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hampton <1>
- Port Byron
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Rapids City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Milan
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Milan is located in Rock Island County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milan
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,945 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milan <1>
- Silvis
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Silvis is located in Rock Island County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silvis
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,473 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silvis <1>
- Barstow
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Carbon Cliff
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Coal Valley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Cordova
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Whiteside County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Mount Joy, with the one closest to Mount Joy listed first.
- Albany
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Newton Corners
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Newton Corners is located in Whiteside County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton Corners
- Erie
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Erie is located in Whiteside County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,482 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Erie <1>
- East Clinton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- East Clinton is located in Whiteside County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Clinton
- Fulton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Fulton is located in Whiteside County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,285 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fulton <1>
- Fenton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Pratt ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Pratt is located in Whiteside County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt
- Denrock
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Denrock is located in Whiteside County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denrock
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Mount Joy, see our County-by-County Page for Mount Joy.
Cemeteries Near Mount Joy ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mount Joy.
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 Mount Joy - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Mount Joy covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Mount Joy, with the one closest to Mount Joy listed first.
- Eldridge Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Calvary Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Mt. Calvary Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Davenport Memorial Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Mt. Nebo Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Pine Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Miller Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Kay Family Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Oakdale Memorial Gardens
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Sacred Heart Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Mt. Joy Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Long Grove Christian Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Continue List (306 more) ...
- Holy Family Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- City Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for City Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the City Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Davenport.
- The City Cemetery has also been known as:
- Davenport City Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1180104 <2>
- St. Marys Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Mount Joy had a population of 93 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Mount Joy, with the one closest to Mount Joy listed first.
- Eldridge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Davenport
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Long Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Moline
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Moline is located in Rock Island County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moline
- Population from the 2020 Census: 41,065 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moline <1>
- Pleasant Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Donahue
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Rock Island
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Hampton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hampton is located in Rock Island County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hampton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,738 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hampton <1>
- Gambrill ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Gambrill is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gambrill
- Noel ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Noel is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noel
- McCausland
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- McCausland is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCausland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 311 people
- Jamestown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Jamestown is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
- Continue List (19 more) ...
- Milan
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Milan is located in Rock Island County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milan
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,945 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milan <1>
- Rapids City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Le Claire
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Mount Joy. See our List of 1890's Communities around Mount Joy.
Newspapers Published in Mount Joy ...
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 179 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mount Joy.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mount Joy, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mount Joy.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Mount Joy:
- Websites specific to Iowa
- Pages specific to Scott County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cedar County
- Clinton County
- Muscatine County
- Henry County
- Mercer County
- Rock Island County
- Whiteside 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 Mount Joy, 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- Mount Joy) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |