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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 Vinton (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 Vinton. 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 Vinton ...

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.

In past government published Postal Guides, Vinton was referred to as Vinton Courthouse.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Vinton. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Vinton.

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 and 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.

Vinton is located in Benton County and is the County Seat.

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 Benton County: Black Hawk, Buchanan, Iowa, Johnson, Linn, Poweshiek & Tama.

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

  • Benton County     (The home county of Vinton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Vinton, with the one closest to Vinton listed first.
    • Benton City ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Benton City is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton City
    • Garrison
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Garrison is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garrison
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 355 people
    • Mount Auburn
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Mount Auburn is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Auburn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
    • Urbana
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Shellsburg
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Spencers Grove
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Van Horne
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Newhall
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Atkins
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Keystone
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Blairstown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Norway
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Watkins
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Black Hawk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Vinton, with the one closest to Vinton listed first.
    • La Porte City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jubilee
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Jubilee is located in Black Hawk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jubilee
    • Eagle Center
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Gilbertville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Gilbertville is located in Black Hawk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbertville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 725 people
    • Jesup
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Jesup is located in Black Hawk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jesup
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,711 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jesup <1>
    • Elk Run Heights
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • 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
    • Raymond
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Blessing
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Dewar
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Evansdale
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Voorhies
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Voorhies is located in Black Hawk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voorhies
    • Hudson
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Dunkerton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Dunkerton is located in Black Hawk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunkerton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 851 people
  • Buchanan County
  • Delaware County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Vinton, with the one closest to Vinton listed first.
    • Robinson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Ehler
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Ehler is located in Delaware County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ehler
    • Masonville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Ryan
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Iowa County
  • Johnson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Vinton, with the one closest to Vinton listed first.
    • Swisher
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Shueyville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Shueyville is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shueyville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 655 people
    • Cou Falls
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Linn County
  • Poweshiek County
  • Tama County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Vinton, with the one closest to Vinton listed first.
    • Dysart
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Elberon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Clutier
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Vining
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Traer
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Buckingham
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Buckingham is located in Tama County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckingham
    • Chelsea
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Dinsdale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Gladstone
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Gladstone is located in Tama County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladstone
    • Long Point
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Long Point is located in Tama County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Point

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

Cemeteries Near Vinton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Vinton.

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

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

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

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Vinton had a population of 2,865 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Vinton had a population of 5,019 people.

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

  • Garrison
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Garrison is located in Benton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garrison
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 355 people
  • Mount Auburn
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Mount Auburn is located in Benton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Auburn
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
  • Shellsburg
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Brandon
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Van Horne
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Newhall
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Center Point
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Palo
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • La Porte City
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Keystone
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Atkins
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Walker
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Dysart
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Jubilee
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Jubilee is located in Black Hawk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jubilee
    • Mooreville ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Mooreville is located in Tama County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mooreville

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Vinton ...

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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around Vinton.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Vinton. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Vinton and those printed in the larger area surrounding Vinton.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Vinton.

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 Vinton:

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 Vinton, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Vinton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.