RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Iowa >> Sac County >> Wall Lake >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Wall Lake (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 Wall Lake. 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 Wall Lake ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Wall Lake: Wall Lk.

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

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.

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Wall Lake is located in Sac 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 Sac County: Buena Vista, Calhoun, Carroll, Cherokee, Crawford, Ida & Pocahontas.

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

  • Sac County     (The home county of Wall Lake)
  • Audubon County
    • Gray
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Buena Vista County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wall Lake, with the one closest to Wall Lake listed first.
    • Juniata
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Newell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Newell is located in Buena Vista County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 859 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newell <1>
    • Lakeside
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Lakeside is located in Buena Vista County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 690 people
    • Casino Beach
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Storm Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Alta
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Alta is located in Buena Vista County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alta
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,916 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alta <1>
  • Calhoun County
  • Carroll County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wall Lake, with the one closest to Wall Lake listed first.
    • Breda
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Arcadia
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Arcadia is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcadia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 531 people
    • Carroll
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Lidderdale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Halbur
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Halbur is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halbur
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 252 people
    • Carroll Community Estates
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Roselle
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Lanesboro
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Lanesboro is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanesboro
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 108 people
    • Glidden
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Willey
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Manning
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Templeton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
  • Crawford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wall Lake, with the one closest to Wall Lake listed first.
    • Boyer
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Kiron
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Westside
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Vail
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Vail is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vail
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 413 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vail <1>
    • Deloit
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Deloit is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deloit
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 254 people
    • Schleswig
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Denison
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Sunset Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Sunset Village is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Village
    • Aspinwall
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Ricketts
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Ricketts is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricketts
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 135 people
    • Manilla
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Buck Grove
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Buck Grove is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 43 people
  • Ida County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wall Lake, with the one closest to Wall Lake listed first.
    • Arthur
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Arthur is located in Ida County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthur
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 194 people
    • Ida Grove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Galva
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Battle Creek
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Holstein
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Pocahontas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wall Lake, with the one closest to Wall Lake listed first.
    • Fonda
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Varina
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Shelby County

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

Cemeteries Near Wall Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wall Lake.

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 Wall Lake - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Wall Lake, with the one closest to Wall Lake 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Wall Lake had a population of 439 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Wall Lake had a population of 753 people.

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

  • Carnarvon
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Lake View
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Breda
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Odebolt
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Grant City
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Grant City is located in Sac County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant City
  • Auburn
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Sac City
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Mount Carmel
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Mount Carmel is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Carmel
  • Kiron
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Early
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Arcadia
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Arcadia is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcadia
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 531 people
  • Arthur
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Arthur is located in Ida County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthur
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 194 people
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Westside
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Maple River
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Maple River is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple River
    • Vail
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Vail is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vail
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 413 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vail <1>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Wall Lake ...

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 111 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wall Lake.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 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 Wall Lake:

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Wall Lake) 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 Wall Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.