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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Traer (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 Traer. 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 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.

Traer is located in Tama 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 Tama County: Benton, Black Hawk, Grundy, Iowa, Jasper, Marshall & Poweshiek.

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

  • Tama County     (The home county of Traer)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Traer, with the one closest to Traer listed first.
    • Buckingham
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Buckingham is located in Tama County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckingham
    • Dinsdale
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Dysart
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Clutier
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Lincoln
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Lincoln is located in Tama County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 148 people
    • Garwin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Garwin is located in Tama County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garwin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 490 people
    • Gladbrook
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Vining
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Elberon
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Gladstone
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Gladstone is located in Tama County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladstone
    • Toledo
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Tama
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Benton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Traer, with the one closest to Traer listed first.
    • Garrison
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Garrison is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garrison
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 355 people
    • Irving
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Mount Auburn
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Mount Auburn is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Auburn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
    • Keystone
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Vinton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Belle Plaine
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Van Horne
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Luzerne
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Benton City ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Benton City is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton City
    • Blairstown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Newhall
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Urbana
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Black Hawk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Traer, with the one closest to Traer listed first.
    • Blessing
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Voorhies
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Voorhies is located in Black Hawk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voorhies
    • Eagle Center
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hudson
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • La Porte City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Gilbertville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Gilbertville is located in Black Hawk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbertville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 725 people
    • Waterloo
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Elk Run Heights
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Elk Run Heights is located in Black Hawk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Run Heights
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,135 people
    • Evansdale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jubilee
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jubilee is located in Black Hawk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jubilee
    • Raymond
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Cedar Falls
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
  • Buchanan County
  • Butler County
  • Grundy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Traer, with the one closest to Traer listed first.
    • Reinbeck
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Morrison
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Beaman
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Beaman is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 183 people
    • Grundy Center
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Fredsville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Dike
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Conrad
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Holland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Fern
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Stout
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Wellsburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Buck Grove
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Buck Grove is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck Grove
  • Hardin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Traer, with the one closest to Traer listed first.
    • Whitten
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Union
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Union is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 373 people
  • Iowa County
    • Dayton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Dayton is located in Iowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayton
  • Jasper County
  • Marshall County
  • Poweshiek County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Traer, with the one closest to Traer listed first.
    • Sheridan
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Hartwick
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Traer ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Traer.

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

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

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

  • St. Paul's Catholic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • West Union Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Buckingham Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Bakers Grove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Larch Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Dinsdale Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Vaclav Catholic Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Oneida Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Dysart Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Amity Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Wheaton Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (259 more) ...
    • Clutier Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • St. Joseph Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Spencer Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)

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 Traer had a population of 1,014 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Traer had a population of 1,585 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Traer ...

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 105 newspapers that have been published in the area around Traer.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Traer. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Traer and those printed in the larger area surrounding Traer.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3> of Traer.

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 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 Traer:

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