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 Sharon Center (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 Sharon Center. 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.
Name Variations for Sharon Center ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
- A typical abbreviation for Sharon Center: Sharon Ctr. (or less commonly used: Sharon Cen., Sharon Cent. or Sharon Cntr.)
- You might see Sharon Centre instead of Sharon Center.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Sharon Center. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Sharon Center.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.
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 hospitals 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.
Sharon Center is located in Johnson 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 Johnson County: Benton, Cedar, Iowa, Linn, Louisa, Muscatine & Washington.
Below are the counties that are near Sharon Center. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Sharon Center:
- Johnson County (The home county of Sharon Center)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sharon Center, with the one closest to Sharon Center listed first.
- Frytown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Frytown is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frytown
- Williamstown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Williamstown is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamstown
- Windham
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Windham is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windham
- Hills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Cosgrove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cosgrove is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cosgrove
- Amish
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Amish is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amish
- University Heights
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- University Heights is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,025 people
- Iowa City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Coralville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Oakdale
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Oakdale is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakdale
- Tiffin
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- River Junction
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- River Junction is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Junction
- Midway ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Midway is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
- Benton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sharon Center, with the one closest to Sharon Center listed first.
- Norway
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Watkins
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Watkins is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watkins
- Cedar County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sharon Center, with the one closest to Sharon Center listed first.
- Downey
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Downey is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downey
- West Branch
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Centerdale
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Centerdale is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerdale
- Springdale
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Springdale is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springdale
- Cedar Bluff
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Cedar Bluff is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluff
- Cedar Valley
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Cedar Valley is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Valley
- Buchanan
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Buchanan is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buchanan
- Rochester
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Rochester is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester
- Lime City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Lime City is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime City
- Former names for Lime City:
- Lime Kilns
- Munn
- Tipton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Henry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sharon Center, with the one closest to Sharon Center listed first.
- Wayland
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Olds
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Olds is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olds
- Population from the 2020 Census: 222 people
- Iowa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sharon Center, with the one closest to Sharon Center listed first.
- Parnell
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Amana
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Middle Amana
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Williamsburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Conroy
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Conroy is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conroy
- South Amana
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- North English
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- West Amana
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- West Amana is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Amana
- Millersburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Millersburg is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 139 people
- Marengo
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Ladora
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Ambrose
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Ambrose is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ambrose
- Jefferson County
- Pleasant Plain
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Pleasant Plain is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Plain
- Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
- Keokuk County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sharon Center, with the one closest to Sharon Center listed first.
- Kinross
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Kinross is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinross
- Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
- Keota
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- South English
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- South English is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South English
- Population from the 2020 Census: 211 people
- Harper
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Harper is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harper
- Population from the 2020 Census: 107 people
- Talleyrand
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Talleyrand is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talleyrand
- Webster
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Webster is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
- Aurora
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Aurora is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
- Keswick
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Linn County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sharon Center, with the one closest to Sharon Center listed first.
- Western
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Western is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Western
- Ely
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Walford
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Walford is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,436 people
- Lincolnway Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Lincolnway Village is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincolnway Village
- Fairfax
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Grand View Village
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Grand View Village is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand View Village
- Bertram
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Bertram is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertram
- Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
- Mount Vernon
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Cedar Hills
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Cedar Hills is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hills
- Cedar Rapids
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Lisbon
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Covington
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Covington is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covington
- Louisa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sharon Center, with the one closest to Sharon Center listed first.
- Gladwin
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Gladwin is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladwin
- Cotter
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Cotter is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotter
- Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
- Columbus Junction
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Fredonia
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Fredonia is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredonia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
- Columbus City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Columbus City is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 371 people
- Wyman
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Wyman is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyman
- Letts
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Muscatine County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sharon Center, with the one closest to Sharon Center listed first.
- Nichols
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Nichols is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nichols
- Population from the 2020 Census: 358 people
- West Liberty
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Conesville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Conesville is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 427 people
- Atalissa
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Moscow
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Moscow is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
- Washington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sharon Center, with the one closest to Sharon Center listed first.
- Kalona
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Riverside
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Wellman
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Nira
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Nira is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nira
- West Chester
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- West Chester is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chester
- Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
- Washington
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Ainsworth
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Havre
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Havre is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havre
- Crawfordsville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Rubio
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Rubio is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rubio
- Brighton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Coppock
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Coppock is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coppock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Sharon Center, see our County-by-County Page for Sharon Center.
Cemeteries Near Sharon Center ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sharon Center.
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 Sharon Center - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Sharon Center covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Sharon Center, with the one closest to Sharon Center listed first.
- Yoder Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Eash Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- John Helmuth Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- St. Johns German Lutheran Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Sharon Center United Methodist Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Sharon Bethel Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- North Gingerich Sharon Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Fairview Mennonite Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Sharon Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Hummer Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hummer Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Hummer Cemetery is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<3> to the northeast of Frytown.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #95147 <2>
- Haven Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- East Union Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (369 more) ...
- Peter Miller Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Mentzer Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Unity Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
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.<4>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Sharon Center had a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Sharon Center, with the one closest to Sharon Center listed first.
- Windham
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Windham is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windham
- Amish
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Amish is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amish
- Kalona
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Cosgrove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cosgrove is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cosgrove
- Riverside
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Richmond
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Richmond is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond
- Iowa Junction ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Iowa Junction is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa Junction
- Iowa City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Tiffin
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Coralville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- River Junction
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- River Junction is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Junction
- Wellman
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (18 more) ...
- Green Center
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Green Center is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Center
- Midway ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Midway is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
- Graham ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Graham is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Sharon Center. See our List of 1890's Communities around Sharon Center.
Newspapers Published in Sharon Center ...
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 60 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sharon Center.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sharon Center, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sharon Center.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Sharon Center:
- Websites specific to Iowa
- Pages specific to Johnson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Benton County
- Cedar County
- Henry County
- Iowa County
- Jefferson County
- Keokuk County
- Linn County
- Louisa County
- Muscatine County
- Washington 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> | 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- Sharon Center) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | 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 Sharon Center, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |