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 Berkeley (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 Berkeley. 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.
Berkeley is located in Cook 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 Berkeley. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Berkeley:
- Cook County (The home county of Berkeley)
- The following are listed by their distance from Berkeley, with the one closest to Berkeley listed first.
- Hillside
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Bellwood
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Bellwood is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 18,436 people
- Bellwood has also been known as:
- Bellwood village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bellwood <1>
- Stone Park
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Melrose Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Northlake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Maywood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Franklin Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Broadview
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Westchester
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- River Forest
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Hines
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- La Grange Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- DuPage County
- The following are listed by their distance from Berkeley, with the one closest to Berkeley listed first.
- Elmhurst
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- South Elmhurst
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- South Elmhurst is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elmhurst
- Oak Brook Terrace
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Oak Brook Terrace is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Brook Terrace
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,094 people
- Villa Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Villa Park is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 21,291 people
- Bensenville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Oak Brook
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Utopia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Utopia is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utopia
- York Center
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- York Center is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York Center
- Addison
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Lombard
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Clarendon Hills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Hinsdale
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Kane County
- The following are listed by their distance from Berkeley, with the one closest to Berkeley listed first.
- Batavia
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Coleman
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Coleman is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman
- Geneva
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Saint Charles
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Elgin
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- South Elgin
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- South Elgin is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elgin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 24,646 people
- East Dundee
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Aurora
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Mooseheart
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- North Aurora
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- North Aurora is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Aurora
- Population from the 2020 Census: 18,144 people
- Bonnie
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Bonnie is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonnie
- Bonnie has also been known as:
- Bonnie Valley
- Sleepy Hollow
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Kendall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Berkeley, with the one closest to Berkeley listed first.
- Boulder Hill
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Boulder Hill is located in Kendall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder Hill
- Montgomery
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Oswego
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Bristol
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Lake County
- The following are listed by their distance from Berkeley, with the one closest to Berkeley listed first.
- Buffalo Grove
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Braeside
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Braeside is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braeside
- Deerfield
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Riverwoods
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Aptakisic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Aptakisic is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aptakisic
- Ravinia
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Ravinia is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravinia
- Bannockburn
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Highland Park
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Kildeer
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Lincolnshire
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Long Grove
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Deer Park
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- McHenry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Berkeley, with the one closest to Berkeley listed first.
- Fox River Grove
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Algonquin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Trout Valley
(27 miles [43.5 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
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Lake-in-the-Hills
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Oakwood Hills
(29 miles [46.7 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
- Island Lake
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Island Lake is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,951 people
- Will County
- The following are listed by their distance from Berkeley, with the one closest to Berkeley listed first.
- Colonial Village
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Colonial Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
- Winston Village
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Winston Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston Village
- Bolingbrook
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Bloomfield Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bloomfield Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomfield Village
- Goodings Grove
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Goodings Grove is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodings Grove
- Homer Glen
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Homer Glen is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer Glen
- Population from the 2020 Census: 24,281 people
- Homer Glen has also been known as:
- Homer Glen village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Homer Glen <1>
- Romeoville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Lockport
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Normantown
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Normantown is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normantown
- Plainfield
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Crest Hill
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Fairmont
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Fairmont is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmont
- Lake County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Berkeley, with the one closest to Berkeley listed first.
- Whiting
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- East Chicago
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Hammond
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Hessville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Hessville is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hessville
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Berkeley, see our County-by-County Page for Berkeley.
Cemeteries Near Berkeley ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Berkeley.
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 Berkeley - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Berkeley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Berkeley, with the one closest to Berkeley listed first.
- Old Settlers Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Glos Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Mt. Carmel Catholic Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Carmel Catholic Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mt. Carmel Catholic Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Hillside.
- The Mt. Carmel Catholic Cemetery has also been known as:
- Mt. Carmel Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #107016 <2>
- Arlington Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Elm Lawn Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Mt. Emblem Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Hillside.
- The Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery has also been known as:
- Queen of Heaven Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #107602 <2>
- Immanuel Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Immanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Oakridge - Glen Oak Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Memorial Estates Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Fairview Memorial Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Continue List (376 more) ...
- St. Mary's Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- St. Marys Elmhurst Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- St. Peters Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
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>
While we didn't find Berkeley in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Berkeley.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Berkeley, with the one closest to Berkeley listed first.
- Hillside
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- South Elmhurst
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- South Elmhurst is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elmhurst
- Elmhurst
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Maywood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Franklin Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Utopia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Utopia is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utopia
- Fullersburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Fullersburg is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fullersburg
- Bensenville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- River Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- South Addison
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- South Addison is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Addison
- Lombard
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Western Springs
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Riverside
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Addison
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Clarendon Hills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Berkeley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Berkeley.
Newspapers Published in Berkeley ...
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 180 newspapers that have been published in the area around Berkeley.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Berkeley, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Berkeley.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Berkeley:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Cook County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- DuPage County
- Kane County
- Kendall County
- Lake County
- McHenry County
- Will County
- Lake County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Illinois
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 Berkeley, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Berkeley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |