RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> DeKalb County >> Cortland >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Cortland (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 Cortland. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Cortland is located in DeKalb 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 DeKalb County: Boone, Kane, Kendall, La Salle, Lee, McHenry, Ogle & Winnebago.

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

  • DeKalb County     (The home county of Cortland)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cortland, with the one closest to Cortland listed first.
    • De Kalb
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Sycamore
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Sycamore is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,317 people
    • Coltonville ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Coltonville is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coltonville
    • Elva
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Elva is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elva
    • Brush Point ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Brush Point is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Point
    • Malta
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Charter Grove
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Charter Grove is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charter Grove
    • Clare
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Hinckley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Waterman
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Genoa
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • New Lebanon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • New Lebanon is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lebanon
    • Kingston
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Boone County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cortland, with the one closest to Cortland listed first.
    • Herbert
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Herbert is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herbert
    • Irene
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Irene is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irene
    • Garden Prairie
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Belvidere
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Russellville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Russellville is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russellville
    • Timberlane
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Timberlane is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timberlane
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 934 people
  • Cook County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cortland, with the one closest to Cortland listed first.
    • Streamwood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Hanover Park
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Barrington Hills
      (28 miles [45.1 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
    • Hoffman Estates
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • South Barrington
      (29 miles [46.7 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
  • DuPage County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cortland, with the one closest to Cortland listed first.
    • Wayne
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • West Chicago
      (22 miles [35.4 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
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Ingalton is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingalton
    • Eola
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Bartlett
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Warrenville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Winfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Carol Stream
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Cloverdale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Cloverdale is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
    • Keeneyville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Keeneyville is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keeneyville
    • Naperville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Wheaton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Bloomingdale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Kane County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cortland, with the one closest to Cortland listed first.
    • Maple Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Virgil
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Lily Lake
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Lily Lake is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lily Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,019 people
    • Kaneville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Elburn
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Burlington
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Big Rock
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Campton Hills
      (14 miles [22.5 km] 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
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • North Plato
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • North Plato is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Plato
    • Plato Center
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Bowes Bend
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Bowes Bend is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowes Bend
    • Bonnie
      (16 miles [25.7 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
  • Kendall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cortland, with the one closest to Cortland listed first.
    • Little Rock
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Little Rock is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rock
    • Plano
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Plano is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plano
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,879 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plano <1>
    • Bristol
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Montgomery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Yorkville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Millbrook
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Boulder Hill
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Boulder Hill is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder Hill
    • Oswego
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Newark
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Plattville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Plattville is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plattville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
  • La Salle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cortland, with the one closest to Cortland listed first.
    • Leland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Millington
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Baker
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Baker is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baker
    • Sheridan
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Earlville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Serena
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Lee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cortland, with the one closest to Cortland listed first.
    • Lee
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Steward
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • East Paw Paw
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • East Paw Paw is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Paw Paw
    • Paw Paw
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Radley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Radley is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radley
    • The Burg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • The Burg is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Burg
    • Compton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Ashton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • West Brooklyn
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • McHenry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cortland, with the one closest to Cortland listed first.
    • Huntley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Union
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Marengo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Lakewood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Algonquin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lake-in-the-Hills
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Crystal Lake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Ridgefield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Ridgefield is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgefield
    • Trout Valley
      (29 miles [46.7 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
    • Woodstock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Cary
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • 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>
    • Fox River Grove
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Ogle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cortland, with the one closest to Cortland listed first.
    • Creston
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Rochelle
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Lindenwood
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Monroe Center
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hillcrest
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Hillcrest is located in Ogle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,216 people
    • Flagg Center
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Flagg Center is located in Ogle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flagg Center
    • Holcomb
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Flagg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Flagg is located in Ogle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flagg
    • Davis Junction
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Stillman Valley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Chana
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Will County
    • Normantown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Normantown is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normantown
  • Winnebago County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cortland, with the one closest to Cortland listed first.
    • Cherry Valley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • New Millford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • New Millford is located in Winnebago County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Millford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 851 people
    • North Park
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • North Park is located in Winnebago County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Park
    • Indian Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Indian Village is located in Winnebago County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village

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

Cemeteries Near Cortland ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cortland.

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

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

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

  • Mound Rest Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Ohio Grove Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Marys Catholic DeKalb Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Oaklawn Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Pleasant Street Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Elmwood Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Mt. Carmel Sycamore Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Whitmore Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Fairview Park Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (271 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 Cortland had a population of 313 people in 1895 with railroad service and no post office. In 2020, Cortland had a population of 4,393 people.

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

  • De Kalb
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Maple Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Sycamore
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Sycamore is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,317 people
  • Richardson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Richardson is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richardson
  • Malta
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Hinckley
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Kaneville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Lily Lake
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Lily Lake is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lily Lake
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,019 people
  • Charter Grove
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Charter Grove is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charter Grove
  • Clare
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Waterman
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Elburn
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Burlington
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Big Rock
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • New Lebanon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • New Lebanon is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lebanon

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Cortland ...

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 150 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cortland.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Cortland. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Cortland and those printed in the larger area surrounding Cortland.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4> of Cortland.

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 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 Cortland:

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