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 Riverdale (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 Riverdale. 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 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.
Riverdale 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 Riverdale. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Riverdale:
- Scott County (The home county of Riverdale)
- The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
- Panorama Park
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Panorama Park is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panorama Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 331 people
- Bettendorf
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Pleasant Valley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Davenport
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Le Claire
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Eldridge
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Park View
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Park View is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park View
- Princeton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Long Grove
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- McCausland
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- McCausland is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCausland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 311 people
- Donahue
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Maysville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Maysville is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
- Blue Grass
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Cedar County
- The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
- Sunbury
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Sunbury is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunbury
- Bennett
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Bennett is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennett
- Population from the 2020 Census: 373 people
- Clinton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
- Folletts
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Folletts is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Folletts
- Shaffton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Shaffton is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaffton
- Low Moor
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- De Witt
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Camanche
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Grand Mound
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Elvira
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Elvira is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elvira
- Clinton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Calamus
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Calamus is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calamus
- Population from the 2020 Census: 397 people
- North Welton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- North Welton is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Welton
- Welton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Welton is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 148 people
- Sixmile
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Sixmile is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sixmile
- Bliedorn ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Bliedorn is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bliedorn
- Muscatine County
- The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
- Midway Beach
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Midway Beach is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway Beach
- Stockton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Stockton is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 189 people
- Pine Mills ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Pine Mills is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Mills
- Pleasant Prairie
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Pleasant Prairie is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Prairie
- Fairport
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Fairport is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairport
- South Towne Park
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- South Towne Park is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Towne Park
- Wilton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Henry County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
- Cleveland
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Cleveland is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
- Briar Bluff
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Briar Bluff is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briar Bluff
- Colona
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Green Rock
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Green Rock is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Rock
- Dayton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Dayton is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayton
- Hickory Hills
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Hickory Hills is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hills
- Orion
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Morristown
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Morristown is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morristown
- Osco
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Geneseo
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Lynn Center
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Andover
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Ophiem
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Ophiem is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ophiem
- Knox County (IL)
- Rio
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Mercer County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
- Sherrard
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Preemption
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Griffin
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Griffin is located in Mercer County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffin
- Matherville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- New Windsor
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- New Windsor is located in Mercer County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Windsor
- Shale City
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Shale City is located in Mercer County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shale City
- Viola
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Windsor
(23 miles [37 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
- Marston
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Marston is located in Mercer County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marston
- Gilchrist
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Gilchrist is located in Mercer County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilchrist
- Aledo
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Burgess
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Burgess is located in Mercer County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burgess
- 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 Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
- East Moline
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- 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
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- 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>
- Silvis
(3 miles [4.8 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>
- Moline
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- 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>
- Carbon Cliff
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Barstow
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Coal Valley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Rock Island
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Rapids City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Milan
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- 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>
- Port Byron
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Coyne Center
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Coyne Center is located in Rock Island County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coyne Center
- Oak Grove
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Oak Grove is located in Rock Island County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Population from the 2020 Census: 585 people
- Whiteside County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
- Albany
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Erie
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- 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>
- Newton Corners
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Newton Corners is located in Whiteside County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton Corners
- 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
- Fenton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Pratt ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Pratt is located in Whiteside County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt
- Denrock
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Denrock is located in Whiteside County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denrock
- 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>
- Prophetstown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Lyndon
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Union Grove
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Union Grove is located in Whiteside County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Riverdale, see our County-by-County Page for Riverdale.
Cemeteries Near Riverdale ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Riverdale.
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 Riverdale - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Riverdale covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
- Fenno Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- St. Mary's Catholic Church Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Riverside Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Rock Island Confederate Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Rock Island National Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Post Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Memorial Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- State Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Hampton Twp. Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Hampton Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Pleasant Valley Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Rock River View Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Continue List (275 more) ...
- Rose Lawn Memorial Estates Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Bowlesburg Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Greenview Memorial Gardens
(4 miles [6.4 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.<3>
While we didn't find Riverdale in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Riverdale.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Riverdale, with the one closest to Riverdale listed first.
- Moline
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- 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>
- Hampton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- 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>
- Pleasant Valley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Carbon Cliff
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Barstow
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Davenport
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Rock Island
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Coal Valley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Milan
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- 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>
- Briar Bluff
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Briar Bluff is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briar Bluff
- Cleveland
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Cleveland is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
- Rapids City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Le Claire
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Joy
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Mount Joy is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Joy
- Green River
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Green River is located in Henry County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green River
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Riverdale. See our List of 1890's Communities around Riverdale.
Newspapers Published in Riverdale ...
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 169 newspapers that have been published in the area around Riverdale.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Riverdale, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Riverdale.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Riverdale:
- Websites specific to Iowa
- Pages specific to Scott County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cedar County
- Clinton County
- Muscatine County
- Henry County
- Knox 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 Riverdale, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Riverdale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |