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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 Barrington (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 Barrington. 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 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.

Barrington is primarily located in Cook County. A portion of Barrington extends into Lake 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 Cook County: DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, Lake (IN) & Berrien (MI).

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

  • Cook County     (The home county of Barrington)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Barrington, with the one closest to Barrington listed first.
    • Inverness
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Barrington Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Barrington Hills is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,152 people
    • South Barrington
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • South Barrington is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Barrington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,976 people
    • Capri Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Capri Village is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capri Village
    • Hoffman Estates
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Palatine
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Plum Grove Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Plum Grove Village is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Grove Village
    • Winthrop Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Winthrop Village is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winthrop Village
    • Fairfax Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Fairfax Village is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax Village
    • Rolling Meadows
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Schaumburg
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Arlington Heights
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Boone County
  • DeKalb County
  • DuPage County
  • Kane County
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Barrington, with the one closest to Barrington listed first.
    • Deer Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • North Barrington
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • North Barrington is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Barrington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,938 people
    • Lake Zurich
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lake Barrington
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Lake Barrington is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Barrington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,840 people
    • Kildeer
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Tower Lakes
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Tower Lakes is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Lakes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,219 people
    • Forest Lake
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hawthorn Woods
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Fox River Valley Gardens
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Port Barrington
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Port Barrington is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Barrington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,481 people
      • Port Barrington has also been known as:
      • Port Barrington village
    • Gilmer
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Long Grove
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • McHenry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Barrington, with the one closest to Barrington listed first.
    • Fox River Grove
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Trout Valley
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Trout Valley is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trout Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 508 people
    • Cary
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Cary is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cary
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,929 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cary <1>
    • Oakwood Hills
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Oakwood Hills is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,011 people
    • Algonquin
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Lake-in-the-Hills
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Island Lake
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Island Lake is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,951 people
    • Barreville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Prairie Grove
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Prairie Grove is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,920 people
    • Crystal Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Holiday Hills
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Holiday Hills is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 574 people
    • Terra Cotta
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Will County
    • Winston Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Winston Village is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston Village
  • Kenosha County (WI)
  • Walworth County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Barrington, with the one closest to Barrington listed first.
    • Genoa City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Genoa City is located in Walworth County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genoa City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,981 people
    • Pell Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Pell Lake is located in Walworth County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pell Lake
    • Zenda
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Barrington ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Barrington.

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

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

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

  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • St. Paul Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • White Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Cady Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Deer Grove Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Union Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Lake Zurich Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Haeger Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Circle of Life Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • German Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (365 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Barrington had a population of 848 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Barrington had a population of 10,178 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Barrington ...

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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around Barrington.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Barrington. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Barrington and those printed in the larger area surrounding Barrington.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<4> of Barrington.

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 Barrington:

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 Barrington, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Barrington) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.