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 Brookside (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 Brookside. 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.
Brookside is located in Kane 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 Kane County: Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Kendall, McHenry & Will.
Below are the counties that are near Brookside. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Brookside:
- Kane County (The home county of Brookside)
- The following are listed by their distance from Brookside, with the one closest to Brookside listed first.
- Campton Hills
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Campton Hills is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campton Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11,063 people
- Campton Hills has also been known as:
- Campton Hills village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Campton Hills <1>
- Wasco
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Lily Lake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Lily Lake is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lily Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,019 people
- Bonnie
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Bonnie is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonnie
- Bonnie has also been known as:
- Bonnie Valley
- Elburn
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Bowes Bend
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Bowes Bend is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowes Bend
- Virgil
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Saint Charles
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Plato Center
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Coleman
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Coleman is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman
- South Elgin
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- South Elgin is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elgin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 24,646 people
- Geneva
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Boone County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brookside, with the one closest to Brookside listed first.
- Herbert
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Herbert is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herbert
- Garden Prairie
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Irene
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Irene is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irene
- Belvidere
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Cook County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brookside, with the one closest to Brookside listed first.
- Streamwood
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Hanover Park
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Hoffman Estates
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- South Barrington
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- South Barrington is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Barrington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,976 people
- Barrington Hills
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Barrington Hills is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,152 people
- Schaumburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Inverness
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Barrington
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Fairfax Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Fairfax Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax Village
- Plum Grove Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Plum Grove Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Grove Village
- Winthrop Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Winthrop Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winthrop Village
- Elk Grove Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- DeKalb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brookside, with the one closest to Brookside listed first.
- Cortland
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Charter Grove
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Charter Grove is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charter Grove
- Sycamore
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Sycamore is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 18,317 people
- New Lebanon
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- New Lebanon is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lebanon
- Hinckley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Coltonville ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Coltonville is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coltonville
- De Kalb
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Genoa
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Brush Point ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Brush Point is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Point
- Elva
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Elva is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elva
- Kingston
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Franks
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Franks is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franks
- DuPage County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brookside, with the one closest to Brookside listed first.
- Wayne
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- West Chicago
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- West Chicago is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chicago
- Population from the 2020 Census: 26,593 people
- Ingalton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Ingalton is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingalton
- Bartlett
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Winfield
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Eola
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Warrenville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Carol Stream
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Cloverdale
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Cloverdale is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Keeneyville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Keeneyville is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keeneyville
- Wheaton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Bloomingdale
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Kendall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brookside, with the one closest to Brookside listed first.
- Montgomery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Boulder Hill
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Boulder Hill is located in Kendall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder Hill
- Little Rock
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Little Rock is located in Kendall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rock
- Bristol
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Oswego
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Plano
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Yorkville
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Millbrook
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Plattville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Plattville is located in Kendall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plattville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
- Newark
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- La Salle County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brookside, with the one closest to Brookside listed first.
- Millington
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Leland
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sheridan
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Lake County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brookside, with the one closest to Brookside listed first.
- Deer Park
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Barrington
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Barrington is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Barrington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,840 people
- Fox River Valley Gardens
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- North Barrington
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- North Barrington is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Barrington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,938 people
- Port Barrington
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- 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
- Tower Lakes
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Tower Lakes is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Lakes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,219 people
- Lake Zurich
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Forest Lake
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Forest Lake is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lake
- Kildeer
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Wauconda
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Buffalo Grove
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Gilmer
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Gilmer is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilmer
- Lee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brookside, with the one closest to Brookside listed first.
- Lee
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Steward
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- McHenry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brookside, with the one closest to Brookside listed first.
- Huntley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Algonquin
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Lake-in-the-Hills
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Lakewood
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Trout Valley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Trout Valley is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trout Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 508 people
- Crystal Lake
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Union
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Cary
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Fox River Grove
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Ridgefield
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Ridgefield is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgefield
- Oakwood Hills
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Oakwood Hills is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,011 people
- Marengo
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Ogle County
- Creston
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Will County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brookside, with the one closest to Brookside listed first.
- Normantown
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Normantown is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normantown
- Bloomfield Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Bloomfield Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomfield Village
- Bolingbrook
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Plainfield
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Walker
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Walker is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walker
- Winston Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Winston Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston Village
- Colonial Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Colonial Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
- Romeoville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Crystal Lawns
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Crystal Lawns is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lawns
- Summerfield
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Summerfield is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerfield
- Shorewood
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Brookside, see our County-by-County Page for Brookside.
Cemeteries Near Brookside ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brookside.
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 Brookside - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Brookside covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Brookside, with the one closest to Brookside listed first.
- Whitney Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Garfield Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Lily Lake Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- New Hampshire Settlement Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- St. Gall Catholic Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Blackberry Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Prairie Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- L R Baker Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- St.s Peter & Paul's Catholic Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Thatcher Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Resurrection Catholic Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- South Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Continue List (346 more) ...
- North Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Cemetery
- The North Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Charles Twp Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #107199 <2>
- Union Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Gardner Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 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 Brookside in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Brookside.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Brookside, with the one closest to Brookside listed first.
- Wasco
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Lily Lake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Lily Lake is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lily Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,019 people
- Elburn
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Bald Mound
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Bald Mound is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bald Mound
- Saint Charles
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Youngsdale
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Youngsdale is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Youngsdale
- Plato Center
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Geneva
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Coleman
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Coleman is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman
- South Elgin
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- South Elgin is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elgin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 24,646 people
- Udina
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Udina is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Udina
- Maple Park
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- North Plato
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- North Plato is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Plato
- Kaneville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Batavia
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Brookside. See our List of 1890's Communities around Brookside.
Newspapers Published in Brookside ...
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 52 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brookside.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Brookside, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Brookside.
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 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 Brookside:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Kane County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Boone County
- Cook County
- DeKalb County
- DuPage County
- Kendall County
- La Salle County
- Lake County
- Lee County
- McHenry County
- Ogle County
- Will 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 Brookside, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Brookside) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |