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 Coal Valley (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 Coal Valley. 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 Coal Valley ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Coal Valley: Coal Vly. (or less commonly used: Coal Vally. or Coal Vlly.)
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Coal Valley. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Coal Valley.
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.
Coal Valley is primarily located in Rock Island County. A portion of Coal Valley extends into Henry 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 Rock Island County: Clinton (IA), Louisa (IA), Muscatine (IA), Scott (IA), Henry, Mercer & Whiteside.
Below are the counties that are near Coal Valley. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Coal Valley:
- Rock Island County (The home county of Coal Valley)
- The following are listed by their distance from Coal Valley, with the one closest to Coal Valley listed first.
- East Moline
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- East Moline is located in Rock Island County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Moline
- Population from the 2020 Census: 20,473 people
- Carbon Cliff
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Silvis
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Moline
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Milan
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Rock Island
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Coyne Center
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Coyne Center is located in Rock Island County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coyne Center
- Oak Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Oak Grove is located in Rock Island County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Population from the 2020 Census: 585 people
- Hampton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Barstow
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Rustic Acres
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Rustic Acres is located in Rock Island County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rustic Acres
- Rapids City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Henry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Coal Valley, with the one closest to Coal Valley listed first.
- Briar Bluff
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Briar Bluff is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briar Bluff
- Colona
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Green Rock
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Green Rock is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Rock
- Dayton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Dayton is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayton
- Orion
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Cleveland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Cleveland is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
- Morristown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Morristown is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morristown
- Hickory Hills
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Hickory Hills is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hills
- Lynn Center
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Osco
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Andover
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Ophiem
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Ophiem is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ophiem
- Knox County
- The following are listed by their distance from Coal Valley, with the one closest to Coal Valley listed first.
- Rio
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Altona
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Oneida
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Henderson Grove
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Henderson Grove is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henderson Grove
- Henderson
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Wataga
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Mercer County
- The following are listed by their distance from Coal Valley, with the one closest to Coal Valley listed first.
- Sherrard
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Preemption
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Griffin
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Griffin is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffin
- Matherville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- New Windsor
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- New Windsor is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Windsor
- Windsor
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Windsor is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor
- Population from the 2020 Census: 760 people
- Viola
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Gilchrist
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Gilchrist is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilchrist
- Shale City
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Shale City is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shale City
- Marston
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Marston is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marston
- Aledo
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Burgess
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Burgess is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burgess
- Warren County
- Shanghai City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Shanghai City is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanghai City
- Whiteside County
- The following are listed by their distance from Coal Valley, with the one closest to Coal Valley listed first.
- Erie
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Albany
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Newton Corners
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Newton Corners is located in Whiteside County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton Corners
- Fenton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Pratt ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Pratt is located in Whiteside County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt
- Denrock
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Denrock is located in Whiteside County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denrock
- East Clinton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- East Clinton is located in Whiteside County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Clinton
- Cedar County (IA)
- Sunbury
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Sunbury is located in Cedar County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunbury
- Clinton County (IA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Coal Valley, with the one closest to Coal Valley listed first.
- Folletts
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Folletts is located in Clinton County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Folletts
- Shaffton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Shaffton is located in Clinton County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaffton
- Low Moor
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Camanche
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- De Witt
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Grand Mound
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Elvira
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Elvira is located in Clinton County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elvira
- Clinton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Calamus
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Calamus is located in Clinton County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calamus
- Population from the 2020 Census: 397 people
- Muscatine County (IA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Coal Valley, with the one closest to Coal Valley listed first.
- Midway Beach
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Midway Beach is located in Muscatine County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway Beach
- Pine Mills ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Pine Mills is located in Muscatine County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Mills
- Pleasant Prairie
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Pleasant Prairie is located in Muscatine County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Prairie
- Stockton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Stockton is located in Muscatine County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 189 people
- Fairport
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Fairport is located in Muscatine County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairport
- South Towne Park
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- South Towne Park is located in Muscatine County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Towne Park
- Muscatine
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Wilton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Wilton is located in Muscatine County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,800 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wilton <1>
- Scott County (IA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Coal Valley, with the one closest to Coal Valley listed first.
- Riverdale
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Riverdale is located in Scott County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverdale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 398 people
- Bettendorf
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Panorama Park
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Panorama Park is located in Scott County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panorama Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 331 people
- Pleasant Valley
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Davenport
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Le Claire
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Eldridge
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Buffalo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Princeton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Blue Grass
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Park View
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Park View is located in Scott County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park View
- Long Grove
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Coal Valley, see our County-by-County Page for Coal Valley.
Cemeteries Near Coal Valley ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Coal Valley.
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 Coal Valley - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Coal Valley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Coal Valley, with the one closest to Coal Valley listed first.
- Coal Valley Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Rose Lawn Memorial Estates Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Memorial Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Glennwood Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Bowlesburg Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Rock River View Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Oakleaf Memorial Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Rock Island County Fome Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Homestead Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Greenview Memorial Gardens
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Riverside Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- St. Mary's Catholic Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Continue List (270 more) ...
- William Carr Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Beulah Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Post Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
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 Coal Valley had a population of 207 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Coal Valley had a population of 3,719 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Coal Valley, with the one closest to Coal Valley listed first.
- Sunny Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Sunny Hill is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Hill
- Carbon Cliff
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Moline
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Warner
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Warner is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warner
- Briar Bluff
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Briar Bluff is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briar Bluff
- Milan
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Rock Island
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Orion
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Green River
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Green River is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green River
- Barstow
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Hampton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Cleveland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Cleveland is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Pleasant Valley
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Davenport
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Morristown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Morristown is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morristown
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Coal Valley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Coal Valley.
Newspapers Published in Coal Valley ...
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 156 newspapers that have been published in the area around Coal Valley.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Coal Valley, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Coal Valley.
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 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 Coal Valley:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Rock Island County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Henry County
- Knox County
- Mercer County
- Warren County
- Whiteside County
- Cedar County
- Clinton County
- Muscatine County
- Scott 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 Coal Valley, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Coal Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |