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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 Pleasant Hill (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 Pleasant Hill. 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 doctors and hospitals 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.

Pleasant Hill is located in Polk 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 Polk County: Boone, Dallas, Jasper, Madison, Marion, Story & Warren.

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

  • Polk County     (The home county of Pleasant Hill)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Hill, with the one closest to Pleasant Hill listed first.
    • Rising Sun
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Country Estate Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Country Estate Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Estate Village
      • Country Estate Village is located in Polk County
    • Levey
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Levey have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Levey
      • Levey is located in Polk County
    • Altoona
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Altoona have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altoona
      • Altoona is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,503 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Altoona <3>
    • Berwick
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Berwick. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berwick
      • Berwick is located in Polk County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Berwick
      • From Pleasant Hill to Berwick
    • Adelphi
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Adelphi. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adelphi
      • Adelphi is located in Polk County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Adelphi
      • From Pleasant Hill to Adelphi
    • Des Moines
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Marquisville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Carlisle
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Bondurant
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bondurant have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bondurant
      • Bondurant is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,293 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bondurant <3>
    • Carney
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Carney. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carney
      • Carney is located in Polk County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Carney
      • From Pleasant Hill to Carney
    • Saylorville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saylorville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saylorville
      • Saylorville is located in Polk County
  • Boone County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Hill, with the one closest to Pleasant Hill listed first.
    • Madrid
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Luther
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Luther. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luther
      • Luther is located in Boone County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 133 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Luther
      • From Pleasant Hill to Luther
  • Dallas County
  • Jasper County
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Hill, with the one closest to Pleasant Hill listed first.
    • Patterson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Saint Charles
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Charles have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Charles
      • Saint Charles is located in Madison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 656 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Charles <3>
    • Winterset
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Marion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Hill, with the one closest to Pleasant Hill listed first.
    • Swan
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Percy ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Percy have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Percy
      • Percy is located in Marion County
    • Pleasantville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Cordova
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cordova have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cordova
      • Cordova is located in Marion County
    • Otley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Bauer
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Knoxville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Melcher - Dallas
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Melcher - Dallas have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melcher - Dallas
      • Melcher - Dallas is located in Marion County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,236 people
  • Marshall County
    • Rhodes
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rhodes have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhodes
      • Rhodes is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 298 people
  • Story County
  • Warren County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Hill, with the one closest to Pleasant Hill listed first.
    • Hartford
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hartford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartford
      • Hartford is located in Warren County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hartford <3>
    • Lakewood
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Palmyra
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Orillia
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Orillia. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orillia
      • Orillia is located in Warren County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Orillia
      • From Pleasant Hill to Orillia
    • Spring Hill
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Hill
      • Spring Hill is located in Warren County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 65 people
    • Cumming
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cumming have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumming
      • Cumming is located in Warren County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 413 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cumming <3>
    • Ackworth
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ackworth have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ackworth
      • Ackworth is located in Warren County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 105 people
    • Indianola
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Sandyville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Prole
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prole have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prole
      • Prole is located in Warren County
    • Clarkson ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarkson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarkson
      • Clarkson is located in Warren County
    • Churchville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Pleasant Hill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pleasant Hill.

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 Pleasant Hill covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Oakwood Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oakwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oakwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sims Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sims Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sims Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Laurel Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Laurel Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Laurel Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rising Sun Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rising Sun Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rising Sun Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Harvey Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Avon Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Stuart Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stuart Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stuart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Elm Grove Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elm Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elm Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Powers - Warren Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Powers - Warren Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Powers - Warren Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Canfield Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Canfield Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Canfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Altoona Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Altoona Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Altoona Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (306 more) ...
    • Ft. Des Moines Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ft. Des Moines Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ft. Des Moines Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Berwick Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Berwick Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Berwick Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Carlisle Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Carlisle Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Carlisle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

While we didn't find Pleasant Hill in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Pleasant Hill.

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

  • East Des Moines
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Des Moines have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Des Moines
    • East Des Moines is located in Polk County
  • Levey
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Levey have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Levey
    • Levey is located in Polk County
  • Hastie
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hastie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hastie
    • Hastie is located in Polk County
  • Rising Sun
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Avon
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Avon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
    • Avon is located in Polk County
  • Altoona
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Altoona have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altoona
    • Altoona is located in Polk County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,503 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Altoona <3>
  • Berwick
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Berwick. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berwick
    • Berwick is located in Polk County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Berwick
    • From Pleasant Hill to Berwick
  • Adelphi
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Adelphi. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adelphi
    • Adelphi is located in Polk County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Adelphi
    • From Pleasant Hill to Adelphi
  • Ivy
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ivy have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy
    • Ivy is located in Polk County
  • Des Moines
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Carlisle
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Saylor
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saylor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saylor
    • Saylor is located in Polk County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Bondurant
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bondurant have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bondurant
      • Bondurant is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,293 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bondurant <3>
    • Oralabor
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oralabor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oralabor
      • Oralabor is located in Polk County
    • Saylorville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saylorville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saylorville
      • Saylorville is located in Polk County

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

Newspapers Published in Pleasant Hill ...

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 277 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pleasant Hill.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pleasant Hill, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Pleasant Hill.

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 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 Pleasant Hill:

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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 Pleasant Hill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Pleasant Hill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Pleasant Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.5874, Longitude: -93.5201