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 West Liberty (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 West Liberty. 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 West Liberty ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for West Liberty: W. Liberty
You might be interested in other communities that are also named West Liberty. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for West Liberty.
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 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.
West Liberty is located in Muscatine 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 Muscatine County: Cedar, Johnson, Louisa, Scott & Rock Island (IL).
Below are the counties that are near West Liberty. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to West Liberty:
- Muscatine County (The home county of West Liberty)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Atalissa
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Nichols
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Nichols is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nichols
- Population from the 2020 Census: 358 people
- Moscow
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Moscow is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
- Wilton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- South Towne Park
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- South Towne Park is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Towne Park
- Conesville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Conesville is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 427 people
- Muscatine
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Fruitland
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Fruitland is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 966 people
- Pleasant Prairie
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Pleasant Prairie is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Prairie
- Fairport
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Fairport is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairport
- Pine Mills ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Pine Mills is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Mills
- Stockton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Stockton is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 189 people
- Midway Beach
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Midway Beach is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway Beach
- Cedar County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Centerdale
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Centerdale is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerdale
- Downey
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Downey is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downey
- Springdale
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Springdale is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springdale
- Rochester
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Rochester is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester
- West Branch
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Cedar Valley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Cedar Valley is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Valley
- Lime City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Lime City is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime City
- Former names for Lime City:
- Lime Kilns
- Munn
- Buchanan
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Buchanan is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buchanan
- Cedar Bluff
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Cedar Bluff is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluff
- Tipton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Sunbury
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Sunbury is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunbury
- Bennett
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Bennett is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennett
- Population from the 2020 Census: 373 people
- Mechanicsville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Mechanicsville is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,116 people
- Clinton County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Wheatland
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Wheatland is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 724 people
- Toronto
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Toronto is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toronto
- Population from the 2020 Census: 119 people
- Johnson County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Midway ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Midway is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
- Lone Tree
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Oasis
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Oasis is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oasis
- Elmira
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Elmira is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmira
- River Junction
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- River Junction is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Junction
- Hills
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Morse
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Morse is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morse
- Iowa City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- University Heights
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- University Heights is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,025 people
- Coralville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Oakdale
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Oakdale is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakdale
- Solon
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- North Liberty
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Jones County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Morley
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Morley is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 110 people
- Olin
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Linn County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Lisbon
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Mount Vernon
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Ely
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Western
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Western is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Western
- Bertram
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Bertram is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertram
- Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
- Louisa County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Letts
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Gladwin
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Gladwin is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladwin
- Columbus Junction
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Fredonia
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Fredonia is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredonia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
- Grandview
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Grandview is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 519 people
- Cotter
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Cotter is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotter
- Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
- Columbus City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Columbus City is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 371 people
- Wapello
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Wapello is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wapello
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,999 people
- Wyman
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Wyman is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyman
- Scott County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Durant
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- New Liberty
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- New Liberty is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Liberty
- Population from the 2020 Census: 143 people
- Walcott
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Blue Grass
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Big Rock
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Big Rock is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rock
- Buffalo
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Hickory Grove
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Hickory Grove is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
- Dixon
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Dixon is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 249 people
- Maysville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Maysville is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
- Washington County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Riverside
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Kalona
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Ainsworth
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Crawfordsville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Havre
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Havre is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havre
- Washington
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Wellman
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Mercer County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Eliza
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Eliza is located in Mercer County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eliza
- Petersville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Petersville is located in Mercer County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersville
- Mannon
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Mannon is located in Mercer County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mannon
- Marston
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Marston is located in Mercer County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marston
- New Boston
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Rock Island County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Illinois City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Illinois City is located in Rock Island County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illinois City
- Buffalo Prairie
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Edgington
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Edgington is located in Rock Island County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgington
- Andalusia
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to West Liberty, see our County-by-County Page for West Liberty.
Cemeteries Near West Liberty ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Liberty.
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 West Liberty - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for West Liberty covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Oak Ridge Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- North Prairie Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Mt. Calvary Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- South Prairie Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Timberlake Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Downey Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Weiss Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Gray's Ford Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Dunfee Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Lenz Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Nichols Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Hickory Grove Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Continue List (335 more) ...
- Overman Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overman Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Overman Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<3> to the southeast of Atalissa.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #95759 <2>
- Chamness Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Lone Tree Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
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 West Liberty had a population of 1,268 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, West Liberty had a population of 3,734 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Atalissa
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Centerdale
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Centerdale is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerdale
- Downey
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Downey is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downey
- Nichols
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Nichols is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nichols
- Population from the 2020 Census: 358 people
- Springdale
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Springdale is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springdale
- Rochester
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Rochester is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester
- West Branch
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Moscow
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Moscow is located in Muscatine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
- Midway ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Midway is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
- Lone Tree
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Lime City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Lime City is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime City
- Former names for Lime City:
- Lime Kilns
- Munn
- Cedar Valley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Cedar Valley is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Valley
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Plato
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Plato is located in Cedar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plato
- Oasis
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Oasis is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oasis
- Graham ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- 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 West Liberty. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Liberty.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of West Liberty ...
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 193 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Liberty.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of West Liberty. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of West Liberty and those printed in the larger area surrounding West Liberty.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of West Liberty.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we 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 West Liberty:
- Websites specific to Iowa
- Pages specific to Muscatine County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cedar County
- Clinton County
- Johnson County
- Jones County
- Linn County
- Louisa County
- Scott County
- Washington County
- Mercer County
- Rock Island 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 '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- West Liberty) 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 West Liberty, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |