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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 Arlington Heights (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 Arlington Heights. 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 Arlington Heights ...

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 Arlington Heights: Arlington Hts. (in Canada, 'Hgts.' is the more common abbreviation.)

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

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.

Arlington Heights is located in Sangamon 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 Sangamon County: Christian, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Menard, Montgomery & Morgan.

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

  • Sangamon County     (The home county of Arlington Heights)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arlington Heights, with the one closest to Arlington Heights listed first.
    • Grandview
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Grandview is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,369 people
    • Clear Lake
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Clear Lake is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
    • Ridgely
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Ridgely is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgely
    • Riverton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hawthorne Place
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Hawthorne Place is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawthorne Place
    • Springfield
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Sherman
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Spaulding
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Spaulding is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spaulding
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 836 people
    • Rochester
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jerome
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jerome is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,575 people
    • Leland Grove
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Leland Grove is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leland Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,451 people
    • Southern View
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Southern View is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southern View
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,557 people
    • Dawson
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arlington Heights, with the one closest to Arlington Heights listed first.
    • Ashland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Gurney ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Gurney is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gurney
    • Newmansville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Newmansville is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newmansville
    • Sylvan ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Sylvan is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvan
    • Philadelphia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Philadelphia is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Philadelphia
    • Burlingame
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Burlingame is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlingame
    • Old Princeton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Old Princeton is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Princeton
  • Christian County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arlington Heights, with the one closest to Arlington Heights listed first.
    • Bolivia
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Bolivia is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolivia
    • Edinburg
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Grove City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Grove City is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove City
    • Tovey
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Tovey is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tovey
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 467 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tovey <1>
    • Mount Auburn
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Bulpitt
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Kincaid
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Jeisyville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jeisyville is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeisyville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
    • Sharpsburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Sharpsburg is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharpsburg
    • Zenobia
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Zenobia is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zenobia
    • Langleyville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Langleyville is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langleyville
    • Taylorville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Clarksdale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Clarksdale is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksdale
  • Logan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arlington Heights, with the one closest to Arlington Heights listed first.
    • Cornland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Elkhart
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Lake Fork
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Middletown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Broadwell
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Broadwell is located in Logan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadwell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 135 people
    • Mount Pulaski
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Chestervale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Chestervale is located in Logan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestervale
    • New Holland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Latham
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Lincoln
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Chestnut
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Bell
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Bell is located in Logan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell
    • Evans
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Evans is located in Logan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans
  • Macon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arlington Heights, with the one closest to Arlington Heights listed first.
    • Niantic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Blue Mound
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Harristown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Boody
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Warrensburg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Macoupin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arlington Heights, with the one closest to Arlington Heights listed first.
    • Virden
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Girard
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Mason County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arlington Heights, with the one closest to Arlington Heights listed first.
    • Mason City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Teheran
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Teheran is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teheran
  • Menard County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arlington Heights, with the one closest to Arlington Heights listed first.
    • Athens
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Croft
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Croft is located in Menard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Croft
    • Petersburg
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Greenview
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Tallula
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Oakford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Montgomery County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arlington Heights, with the one closest to Arlington Heights listed first.
    • White Oak
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • White Oak is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oak
    • Farmersville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Waggoner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Morgan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arlington Heights, with the one closest to Arlington Heights listed first.
    • Prentice
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Prentice is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prentice
    • Waverly
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Alexander
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Franklin
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Arnold
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Arnold is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
    • Pisgah
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Pisgah is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pisgah

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

Cemeteries Near Arlington Heights ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Arlington Heights.

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 Arlington Heights - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Roselawn Memorial Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Bissell Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bissell Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Bissell Cemetery is located 5 miles [8 km]<2> to the northeast of Springfield.
    • The Bissell Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Churchill Cemetery
    • German Prairie Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #104767 <3>
  • Camp Butler National Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvary Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Calvary Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Springfield.
    • The Calvary Cemetery has also been known as:
    • German Catholic Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #104996 <3>
  • Oak Ridge Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Lincoln Tomb
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Ladysmith Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Crowder Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Rochester Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Mallory Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Martin Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (291 more) ...

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>

While we didn't find Arlington Heights in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Arlington Heights.

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

  • Ridgely
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Ridgely is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgely
  • Springfield
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Riverton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Spaulding
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Spaulding is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spaulding
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 836 people
  • Sherman
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Rochester
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Barclay
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Barclay is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barclay
  • Dawson
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Bradfordton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Bradfordton is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradfordton
  • Woodside
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Woodside is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodside
  • Cotton Hill
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Cotton Hill is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Hill
  • Cantrall
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Williamsville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Curran
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Curran is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curran
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
    • New City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • New City is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New City

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

Newspapers Published in Arlington Heights ...

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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around Arlington Heights.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Arlington Heights, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Arlington Heights.

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 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 Arlington Heights:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Arlington Heights) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<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 Arlington Heights, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.