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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 Peoria (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 Peoria. 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 hospitals 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.

Peoria is located in Mahaska County.

To see how the shape of Iowa's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Mahaska County: Jasper, Keokuk, Marion, Monroe, Poweshiek & Wapello.

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

  • Mahaska County     (The home county of Peoria)
  • Jasper County
  • Keokuk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peoria, with the one closest to Peoria listed first.
    • Coal Creek
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Coal Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Creek
      • Coal Creek is located in Keokuk County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Coal Creek
      • From Peoria to Coal Creek
    • Gibson
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gibson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibson
      • Gibson is located in Keokuk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
    • What Cheer
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Thornburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Delta
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Aurora
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aurora have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
      • Aurora is located in Keokuk County
    • Keswick
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Marion County
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peoria, with the one closest to Peoria listed first.
    • Gilman
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Laurel
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Laurel have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel
      • Laurel is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 234 people
  • Monroe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peoria, with the one closest to Peoria listed first.
    • Bluff Creek
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bluff Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff Creek
      • Bluff Creek is located in Monroe County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bluff Creek
      • From Peoria to Bluff Creek
    • Lovilia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lovilia have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovilia
      • Lovilia is located in Monroe County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 516 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lovilia <1>
    • Avery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Avery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avery
      • Avery is located in Monroe County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Avery
      • From Peoria to Avery
    • Albia
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Polk County
  • Poweshiek County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peoria, with the one closest to Peoria listed first.
    • Searsboro
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Montezuma
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montezuma have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montezuma
      • Montezuma is located in Poweshiek County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,388 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montezuma <1>
    • Grinnell
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Malcom
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Malcom have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malcom
      • Malcom is located in Poweshiek County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 275 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Malcom <1>
    • Deep River
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deep River have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep River
      • Deep River is located in Poweshiek County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
    • Tilton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tilton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilton
      • Tilton is located in Poweshiek County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Tilton
      • From Peoria to Tilton
    • Brooklyn
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brooklyn have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
      • Brooklyn is located in Poweshiek County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,390 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brooklyn <1>
    • Guernsey
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guernsey have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guernsey
      • Guernsey is located in Poweshiek County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 61 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Guernsey <1>
    • Sheridan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Wapello County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peoria, with the one closest to Peoria listed first.
    • Eddyville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Kirkville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kirkville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkville
      • Kirkville is located in Wapello County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 177 people
    • Dudley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Chillicothe
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chillicothe have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chillicothe
      • Chillicothe is located in Wapello County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
  • Warren County

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

Cemeteries Near Peoria ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Peoria.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Peoria had a population of 156 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Peoria ...

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 161 newspapers that have been published in the area around Peoria.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Peoria, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Peoria.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Peoria:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Peoria. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/

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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>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.
<5>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 from Point A (ie- Peoria) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Peoria. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.4620, Longitude: -92.8015    
<6>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 Peoria, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025