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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 Cahokia (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 Cahokia. 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 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.

Cahokia is located in Saint Clair 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 Saint Clair County: Clinton, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, Washington, Saint Louis City (MO) & Saint Louis (MO).

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

  • Saint Clair County     (The home county of Cahokia)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cahokia, with the one closest to Cahokia listed first.
    • Sauget
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Sauget is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sauget
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sauget <1>
    • Falling Spring
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Centreville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Centreville is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centreville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,844 people
    • Dupo
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • East Carondelet
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Alorton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Alorton is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alorton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,880 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alorton <1>
    • East Saint Louis
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Imbs
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Brooklyn
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Brooklyn is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 687 people
    • National City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Washington Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • French Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Fairmont City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Fairmont City is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmont City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,439 people
  • Calhoun County
  • Clinton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cahokia, with the one closest to Cahokia listed first.
    • New Baden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Trenton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • New Memphis
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Albers
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Damiansville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Jersey County
  • Madison County
  • Monroe County
  • Randolph County
  • Franklin County (MO)
  • Jefferson County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cahokia, with the one closest to Cahokia listed first.
    • Arnold
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Arnold is located in Jefferson County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,145 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arnold <1>
    • Flamm City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Flamm City is located in Jefferson County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flamm City
    • Maxville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Imperial
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Kimmswick
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Murphy
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Murphy is located in Jefferson County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphy
    • Barnhart
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Parkdale
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Parkdale is located in Jefferson County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkdale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 162 people
    • High Ridge
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Peaceful Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Peaceful Village is located in Jefferson County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peaceful Village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
    • Otto
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Byrnes Mill
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Pevely
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Pevely is located in Jefferson County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pevely
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,001 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pevely <1>
  • Saint Charles County (MO)
  • Saint Louis City (MO)
  • Saint Louis County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cahokia, with the one closest to Cahokia listed first.
    • Ivory
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Ivory is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivory
    • Lemay
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Bella Villa
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Bella Villa is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bella Villa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 721 people
    • Mackenzie
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Mackenzie is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mackenzie
      • Estimated population in 2018: 131 people
    • Wilbur Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Wilbur Park is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilbur Park
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 466 people
    • Wydown Skinker
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Affton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Maplewood
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Saint George
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Saint George is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint George
      • Estimated population in 2011: 1,336 people
    • Shrewsbury
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Shrewsbury is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shrewsbury
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,063 people
    • Green Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Green Park is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Park
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,614 people
    • Lakeshire
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Lakeshire is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeshire
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,385 people
    • Marlborough
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Marlborough is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlborough
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,142 people

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

Cemeteries Near Cahokia ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cahokia.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Cahokia, with the one closest to Cahokia 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Cahokia had a population of 100 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Cahokia had a population of 13,742 people.

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

  • Falling Spring
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Carondelet
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Saint Louis
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • East Carondelet
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Tillman
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Tillman is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tillman
  • Centreville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Centreville is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centreville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,844 people
  • Vulcan
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Vulcan is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vulcan
  • Imbs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • East Saint Louis
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Ivory
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Ivory is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivory
  • Tower Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Clifton Heights
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Clifton Heights is located in Saint Louis City (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton Heights
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Jefferson Barracks
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jefferson Barracks is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson Barracks
    • Venice
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Cheltenham
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Cheltenham is located in Saint Louis City (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheltenham

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Cahokia ...

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 85 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cahokia.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 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 Cahokia:

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 Cahokia, 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- Cahokia) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.