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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 Alden (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 Alden. 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 hospitals 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.

Alden is located in McHenry County.

To see how the shape of Illinois' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of McHenry County: Boone, Cook, DeKalb, Kane, Lake, Kenosha (WI) & Walworth (WI).

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

  • McHenry County     (The home county of Alden)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alden, with the one closest to Alden listed first.
    • Hebron
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Big Foot Prairie
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Harvard
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Greenwood
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Greenwood is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 224 people
    • Wonder Lake
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Wonder Lake is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wonder Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,837 people
      • Wonder Lake has also been known as:
      • Wonder Lake village
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wonder Lake <1>
    • Richmond
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Woodstock
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Ringwood
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Solon Mills
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • McCullom Lake
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • McCullom Lake is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCullom Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 996 people
    • Bull Valley
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Bull Valley is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,078 people
    • McHenry
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Boone County
  • Cook County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alden, with the one closest to Alden listed first.
    • Barrington Hills
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Barrington Hills is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,152 people
    • Barrington
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • DeKalb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alden, with the one closest to Alden listed first.
    • New Lebanon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Genoa
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Charter Grove
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Kingston
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Kirkland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Kane County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alden, with the one closest to Alden listed first.
    • Freeman
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Hampshire
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Gilberts
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Starks
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • West Dundee
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Carpentersville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Pingree Grove
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Sleepy Hollow
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Burlington
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • North Plato
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • East Dundee
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Plato Center
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alden, with the one closest to Alden listed first.
    • Fox Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Channel Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Channel Lake is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Channel Lake
    • Fox Lake Hills
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Fox Lake Hills is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Lake Hills
    • Lake Catherine
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Lake Catherine is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Catherine
    • Ingleside
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Long Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Long Lake is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake
    • Volo
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Monaville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Round Lake Heights
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Antioch
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Fort Hill
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Fox River Valley Gardens
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Winnebago County
  • Jefferson County (WI)
    • Palmyra
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Palmyra is located in Jefferson County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmyra
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,746 people
  • Kenosha County (WI)
  • Racine County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alden, with the one closest to Alden listed first.
    • Bohners Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Bohners Lake is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bohners Lake
    • Burlington
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Burlington is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,898 people
    • Browns Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Browns Lake is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Lake
    • Honey Creek
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Rochester
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Eagle Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Eagle Lake is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Lake
    • Waterford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Waterford is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,618 people
    • Caldwell
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Union Grove
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Union Grove is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,266 people
  • Rock County (WI)
  • Walworth County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alden, with the one closest to Alden listed first.
    • Zenda
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Big Foot Prairie
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Fontana-on-Geneva Lake
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Fontana-on-Geneva Lake is located in Walworth County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fontana-on-Geneva Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,743 people
    • Walworth
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Walworth is located in Walworth County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walworth
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,827 people
    • Williams Bay
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Lake Como
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Genoa City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Genoa City is located in Walworth County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genoa City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,981 people
    • Como
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Lake Como Beach ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Lake Geneva
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Pell Lake
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Pell Lake is located in Walworth County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pell Lake
    • Delavan Lake
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Delavan Lake is located in Walworth County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delavan Lake
  • Waukesha County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alden, with the one closest to Alden listed first.
    • Eagleville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Eagle
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Mukwonago
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Mukwonago is located in Waukesha County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mukwonago
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,107 people

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

Cemeteries Near Alden ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alden.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Alden, with the one closest to Alden 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 in 1895, Alden had a post office and railroad service.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Alden ...

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 162 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alden.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Alden, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Alden.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Alden:

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