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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 Rockdale (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 Rockdale. 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.

Rockdale is located in Dubuque 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 Dubuque County: Clayton, Delaware, Jackson, Jones, Jo Daviess (IL) & Grant (WI).

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

  • Dubuque County     (The home county of Rockdale)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockdale, with the one closest to Rockdale listed first.
    • Key West
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Cattese
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Dubuque
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Asbury
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Asbury is located in Dubuque County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asbury
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,841 people
    • Massey
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Sageville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Sageville is located in Dubuque County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sageville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
    • Wilkins
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Durango
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Centralia
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Centralia is located in Dubuque County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centralia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
    • Peosta
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Graf
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Graf is located in Dubuque County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graf
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 81 people
    • Sherrill
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Clayton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockdale, with the one closest to Rockdale listed first.
    • North Buena Vista
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • North Buena Vista is located in Clayton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Buena Vista
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
    • Turkey River
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Millville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Osterdock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Delaware County
  • Jackson County
  • Jones County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockdale, with the one closest to Rockdale listed first.
    • Clay Mills
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Clay Mills is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay Mills
    • Onslow
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Monticello
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Carroll County (IL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockdale, with the one closest to Rockdale listed first.
    • Blackhawk
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Arnold
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Jo Daviess County (IL)
  • Grant County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockdale, with the one closest to Rockdale listed first.
    • Rutledge
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Sinnipee ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jamestown
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Dickeyville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Dickeyville is located in Grant County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickeyville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,020 people
    • Hazel Green
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Hazel Green is located in Grant County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel Green
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,219 people
    • Potosi
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Tennyson
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Tennyson is located in Grant County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tennyson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 339 people
    • Cuba City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Cuba City is located in Grant County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,047 people
    • Platteville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Platteville is located in Grant County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platteville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,650 people
    • Cassville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Beetown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Lancaster
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Iowa County (WI)
    • Rewey
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Lafayette County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockdale, with the one closest to Rockdale listed first.
    • Benton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Benton is located in Lafayette County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 966 people
    • New Diggings
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Etna
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • White Oak
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Elk Grove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Fort Gratiot ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Shullsburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Shullsburg is located in Lafayette County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shullsburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,192 people
    • Belmont
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Rockdale ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rockdale.

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 Rockdale - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Rockdale Methodist Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Presentation Sisters Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Simpson Street Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Mt. Carmel Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Mines of Spain Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Cherry Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Third Street Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Center Grove Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Doctor Finleys Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Baehler Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Jackson Park Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (296 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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Rockdale had a population of 63 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Key West
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Cattese
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • East Dubuque
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Dubuque
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Center Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Center Grove is located in Dubuque County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Grove
  • Ballyclough
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Ballyclough is located in Dubuque County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballyclough
  • King
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • King is located in Dubuque County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
  • Massey
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Julien
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Julien is located in Dubuque County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Julien
  • Sageville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Sageville is located in Dubuque County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sageville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
  • Rutledge
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Bennettsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Bennettsville is located in Dubuque County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennettsville
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Menominee
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Fair Play
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Fair Play is located in Grant County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Play
    • Lore
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Lore is located in Dubuque County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lore

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

Newspapers Published in Rockdale ...

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 96 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rockdale.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rockdale, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rockdale.

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 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 Rockdale:

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>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 Rockdale, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Rockdale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.