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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 Norris Siding (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 Norris Siding. 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 doctors 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.

Norris Siding 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 Norris Siding. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Norris Siding:

  • Black Hawk County     (The home county of Norris Siding)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Norris Siding, with the one closest to Norris Siding listed first.
    • North Cedar
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • North Cedar is located in Black Hawk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Cedar
    • Cedar City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Cedar City is located in Black Hawk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar City
    • Cedar Falls
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Janesville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Finchford
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Finchford is located in Black Hawk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finchford
    • Waterloo
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Hudson
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Hudson is located in Black Hawk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,473 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hudson <1>
    • Evansdale
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Edwards ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Edwards is located in Black Hawk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
    • Dewar
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Dewar is located in Black Hawk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewar
    • Elk Run Heights
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • 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
    • Raymond
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Raymond is located in Black Hawk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 788 people
  • Benton County
    • Mount Auburn
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Mount Auburn is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Auburn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
  • Bremer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Norris Siding, with the one closest to Norris Siding listed first.
    • Denver
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Waverly
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Klinger
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Klinger is located in Bremer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klinger
    • Bremer
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Bremer is located in Bremer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bremer
    • Knittel
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Knittel is located in Bremer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knittel
    • Readlyn
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Horton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Horton is located in Bremer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horton
    • Plainfield
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Seigel
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Seigel is located in Bremer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seigel
    • Tripoli
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Frederika
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Frederika is located in Bremer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frederika
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 205 people
    • Sumner
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Buchanan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Norris Siding, with the one closest to Norris Siding listed first.
    • Fairbank
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Shady Grove
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Shady Grove is located in Buchanan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
    • Hazleton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Brandon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Brandon is located in Buchanan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 320 people
    • Independence
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Butler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Norris Siding, with the one closest to Norris Siding listed first.
    • New Hartford
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Shell Rock
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Sinclair
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Sinclair is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sinclair
    • Coster
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Coster is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coster
    • Parkersburg
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Butler Center
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Butler Center is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler Center
    • Clarksville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Aplington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Allison
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Kesley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Kesley is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kesley
    • Austinville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Austinville is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austinville
    • Bristow
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Bristow is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristow
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
  • Chickasaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Norris Siding, with the one closest to Norris Siding listed first.
    • Nashua
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Nashua is located in Chickasaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashua
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,571 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nashua <1>
    • Bradford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Bradford is located in Chickasaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradford
    • Republic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Republic is located in Chickasaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Republic
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Norris Siding, with the one closest to Norris Siding listed first.
    • Oran
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Oran is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oran
    • Westgate
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Westgate is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westgate
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 209 people
    • Oelwein
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Grundy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Norris Siding, with the one closest to Norris Siding listed first.
    • Fredsville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Fredsville is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredsville
    • Dike
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Dike is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dike
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,267 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dike <1>
    • Stout
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Stout is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stout
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 214 people
    • Fern
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Fern is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern
    • Reinbeck
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Morrison
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Buck Grove
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Buck Grove is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck Grove
    • Grundy Center
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Holland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Wellsburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Beaman
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Beaman is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 183 people
    • Conrad
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Hardin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Norris Siding, with the one closest to Norris Siding listed first.
    • Ackley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Cleves
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Cleves is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleves
    • Abbott
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Abbott is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbott
  • Tama County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Norris Siding, with the one closest to Norris Siding listed first.
    • Dinsdale
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Dinsdale is located in Tama County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dinsdale
    • Lincoln
      (22 miles [35.4 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
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Buckingham is located in Tama County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckingham
    • Traer
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Dysart
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Gladbrook
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Norris Siding ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Norris Siding.

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 Norris Siding - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Fairview Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Cedar Valley Memorial Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Highland Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • George Wyth Memorial State Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Washington Chapel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Benson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Rarick Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Fairfield Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Gerholdt Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Bidwell Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (249 more) ...

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 Norris Siding in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Norris Siding.

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

  • Cedar Falls
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Fredsville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Fredsville is located in Grundy County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredsville
  • Finchford
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Finchford is located in Black Hawk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finchford
  • Janesville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • New Hartford
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Waverly Junction
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Waverly Junction is located in Bremer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverly Junction
  • Waterloo
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Dairyville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Dairyville is located in Grundy County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dairyville
  • Hudson
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Hudson is located in Black Hawk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,473 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hudson <1>
  • Swanton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Swanton is located in Butler County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swanton
  • Edwards ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Edwards is located in Black Hawk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
  • Denver
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Lincoln
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Lincoln is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
    • Shell Rock
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Waverly
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Norris Siding ...

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 141 newspapers that have been published in the area around Norris Siding.

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

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 Norris Siding:

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 Norris Siding, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Norris Siding) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.