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 Williamsburg (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 Williamsburg. 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 Williamsburg ...
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.
Another variation: Williamsburgh.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Williamsburg. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Williamsburg.
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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Williamsburg is located in Iowa 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 Iowa County: Benton, Johnson, Keokuk, Linn, Poweshiek, Tama & Washington.
Below are the counties that are near Williamsburg. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Williamsburg:
- Iowa County (The home county of Williamsburg)
- The following are listed by their distance from Williamsburg, with the one closest to Williamsburg listed first.
- Conroy
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Conroy is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conroy
- Parnell
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- South Amana
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Marengo
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- West Amana
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- West Amana is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Amana
- Middle Amana
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Ladora
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Millersburg
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Millersburg is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 139 people
- Amana
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- North English
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Ambrose
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Ambrose is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ambrose
- Dayton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Dayton is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayton
- Benton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williamsburg, with the one closest to Williamsburg listed first.
- Watkins
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Watkins is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watkins
- Blairstown
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Norway
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Luzerne
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Luzerne is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luzerne
- Population from the 2020 Census: 92 people
- Belle Plaine
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Newhall
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Atkins
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Van Horne
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Van Horne is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Horne
- Population from the 2020 Census: 646 people
- Irving
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Irving is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irving
- Keystone
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Shellsburg
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Johnson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williamsburg, with the one closest to Williamsburg listed first.
- Oxford
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Windham
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Windham is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windham
- Cosgrove
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Cosgrove is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cosgrove
- Amish
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Amish is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amish
- Frytown
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Frytown is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frytown
- Williamstown
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Williamstown is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamstown
- Tiffin
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Cou Falls
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Cou Falls is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cou Falls
- Swisher
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Coralville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- North Liberty
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Oakdale
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Oakdale is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakdale
- Shueyville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Shueyville is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shueyville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 655 people
- Keokuk County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williamsburg, with the one closest to Williamsburg listed first.
- Kinross
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Kinross is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinross
- Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
- South English
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- South English is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South English
- Population from the 2020 Census: 211 people
- Aurora
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Aurora is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
- Webster
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Webster is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
- Keswick
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Harper
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Harper is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harper
- Population from the 2020 Census: 107 people
- Keota
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Thornburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Thornburg is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
- Gibson
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Gibson is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
- Talleyrand
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Talleyrand is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talleyrand
- Coal Creek
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Coal Creek is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Creek
- Sigourney
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- What Cheer
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Linn County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williamsburg, with the one closest to Williamsburg listed first.
- Walford
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Walford is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,436 people
- Fairfax
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Grand View Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Grand View Village is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand View Village
- Western
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Western is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Western
- Lincolnway Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Lincolnway Village is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincolnway Village
- Cedar Hills
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Cedar Hills is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hills
- Covington
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Covington is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covington
- Ely
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cedar Rapids
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Palo
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Louisa
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Louisa is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisa
- Mahaska County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williamsburg, with the one closest to Williamsburg listed first.
- Barnes City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Indianapolis
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Indianapolis is located in Mahaska County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indianapolis
- Poweshiek County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williamsburg, with the one closest to Williamsburg listed first.
- Victor
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Guernsey
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Hartwick
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Hartwick is located in Poweshiek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartwick
- Population from the 2020 Census: 81 people
- Deep River
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Deep River is located in Poweshiek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep River
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
- Tilton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Tilton is located in Poweshiek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilton
- Brooklyn
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Montezuma
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Malcom
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Tama County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williamsburg, with the one closest to Williamsburg listed first.
- Chelsea
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Elberon
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Vining
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Vining is located in Tama County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vining
- Population from the 2020 Census: 49 people
- Washington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williamsburg, with the one closest to Williamsburg listed first.
- Nira
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Nira is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nira
- Wellman
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Kalona
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- West Chester
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- West Chester is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chester
- Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
- Riverside
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Washington
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Williamsburg, see our County-by-County Page for Williamsburg.
Cemeteries Near Williamsburg ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Williamsburg.
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 Williamsburg - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Williamsburg covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Williamsburg, with the one closest to Williamsburg listed first.
- St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Oak Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Dane Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Pleasant Ridge Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Iowa County Home Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pilot Grove Union Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- German Evangelical Lutheran Emanuel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- St. Josephs Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Norwegian Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Harrington Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Continue List (332 more) ...
- Old Scotch Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Old Scotch Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Nelson Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
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 Williamsburg had a population of 635 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Williamsburg had a population of 3,179 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Williamsburg, with the one closest to Williamsburg listed first.
- Conroy
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Conroy is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conroy
- Parnell
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Holbrook
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Holbrook is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holbrook
- South Amana
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Marengo
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Homestead
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Millersburg
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Millersburg is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 139 people
- Green Center
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Green Center is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Center
- Ladora
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- North English
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Oxford
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Amana
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (19 more) ...
- Windham
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Windham is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windham
- Kinross
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Kinross is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinross
- Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
- Amish
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Amish is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amish
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Williamsburg. See our List of 1890's Communities around Williamsburg.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Williamsburg ...
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 90 newspapers that have been published in the area around Williamsburg.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Williamsburg. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Williamsburg and those printed in the larger area surrounding Williamsburg.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Williamsburg.
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 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 Williamsburg:
- Websites specific to Iowa
- Pages specific to Iowa County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Benton County
- Johnson County
- Keokuk County
- Linn County
- Mahaska County
- Poweshiek County
- Tama County
- Washington 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> | 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 Williamsburg, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Williamsburg) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |