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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 Thornton (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 Thornton. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Thornton is located in Cerro Gordo 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 Cerro Gordo County: Butler, Floyd, Franklin, Hancock, Mitchell, Winnebago, Worth & Wright.

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

  • Cerro Gordo County     (The home county of Thornton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
    • Swaledale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Meservey
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meservey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meservey
      • Meservey is located in Cerro Gordo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 237 people
    • Burchinal
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Rockwell
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Clear Lake
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Ventura
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ventura have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ventura
      • Ventura is located in Cerro Gordo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 706 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ventura <2>
    • Cameron
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cameron. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
      • Cameron is located in Cerro Gordo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cameron
      • From Thornton to Cameron
    • Cartersville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Mason City Junction
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Dougherty
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dougherty have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dougherty
      • Dougherty is located in Cerro Gordo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
    • Mason City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Portland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Butler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
    • Aredale
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Dumont
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dumont have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumont
      • Dumont is located in Butler County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 595 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dumont <2>
    • Bristow
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Greene
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Floyd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
    • Rockford
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Nora Springs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nora Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nora Springs
      • Nora Springs is located in Floyd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,342 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nora Springs <2>
    • Aureola
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aureola have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aureola
      • Aureola is located in Floyd County
    • Marble Rock
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marble Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marble Rock
      • Marble Rock is located in Floyd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 287 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marble Rock <2>
    • Rudd
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Roseville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
    • Sheffield
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sheffield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheffield
      • Sheffield is located in Franklin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,096 people
    • Alexander
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Chapin
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Latimer
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Latimer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latimer
      • Latimer is located in Franklin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 463 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Latimer <2>
    • Coulter
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Hampton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hampton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hampton
      • Hampton is located in Franklin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,162 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hampton <2>
    • Reeve
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Reeve. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeve
      • Reeve is located in Franklin County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Reeve
      • From Thornton to Reeve
    • Hansell
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Bradford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bradford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradford
      • Bradford is located in Franklin County
    • Geneva
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Geneva have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
      • Geneva is located in Franklin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Geneva <2>
    • Popejoy
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Popejoy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Popejoy
      • Popejoy is located in Franklin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 74 people
    • Oakland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
  • Hancock County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
    • Goodell
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Klemme
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Klemme have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klemme
      • Klemme is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 455 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Klemme <2>
    • Garner
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garner
      • Garner is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,031 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garner <2>
    • Duncan
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Kanawha
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Britt
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Hutchins
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hutchins. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hutchins
      • Hutchins is located in Hancock County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hutchins
      • From Thornton to Hutchins
    • Crystal Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lake
      • Crystal Lake is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
    • Corwith
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Corwith have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corwith
      • Corwith is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 245 people
  • Hardin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
    • Alden
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Iowa Falls
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iowa Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa Falls
      • Iowa Falls is located in Hardin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,940 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iowa Falls <2>
  • Mitchell County
  • Winnebago County
  • Worth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
    • Fertile
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fertile have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fertile
      • Fertile is located in Worth County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 356 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fertile <2>
    • Hanlontown
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hanlontown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanlontown
      • Hanlontown is located in Worth County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
    • Manly
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Joice
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Joice have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joice
      • Joice is located in Worth County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 209 people
    • Kensett
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kensett have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kensett
      • Kensett is located in Worth County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 249 people
    • Grafton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Wright County

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

Cemeteries Near Thornton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Thornton.

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

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

  • Pleasant View Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant View Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Richland Lutheran Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Pleasant Valley Twp. Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Meservey Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Meservey Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Meservey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Shobes Grove Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shobes Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shobes Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Holland Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Zion Reformed Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Reformed Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion Reformed Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Vernon Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Vernon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Vernon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sacred Heart Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sacred Heart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Immanuel Reformed Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Alexander Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Alexander Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Alexander Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (148 more) ...
    • Old Chapin Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Chapin Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Chapin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Linn Grove Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Linn Grove Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Linn Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Amsterdam Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)

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 in 1895, Thornton had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Thornton had a population of 401 people.

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

  • Swaledale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Sheffield
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sheffield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheffield
    • Sheffield is located in Franklin County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,096 people
  • Burchinal
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Alexander
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Rockwell
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Chapin
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Klemme
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Klemme have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klemme
    • Klemme is located in Hancock County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 455 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Klemme <2>
  • Goodell
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Latimer
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Latimer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latimer
    • Latimer is located in Franklin County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 463 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Latimer <2>
  • Belmond
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Cameron
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cameron. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
    • Cameron is located in Cerro Gordo County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Cameron
    • From Thornton to Cameron
  • Clear Lake
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Mason City Junction
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Garner
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garner
      • Garner is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,031 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garner <2>
    • Rowan
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Thornton ...

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 107 newspapers that have been published in the area around Thornton.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Thornton, 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 Thornton.

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 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 Thornton:

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

The official website for Cerro Gordo County: www.co.cerro-gordo.ia.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Thornton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Thornton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.9454, Longitude: -93.3846    
<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 Thornton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025