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 Cragin (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 Cragin. 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 hospitals and 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.
Cragin 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 Cragin. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Cragin:
- Cook County (The home county of Cragin)
- The following are listed by their distance from Cragin, with the one closest to Cragin listed first.
- Pacific Junction
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Pacific Junction is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacific Junction
- Grayland
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Grayland is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayland
- Moreland
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Moreland is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moreland
- Oak Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Elmwood Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Maplewood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Maplewood is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
- West Town
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- West Town is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Town
- Albany Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Albany Park is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albany Park
- Dunning
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Dunning is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunning
- River Forest
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Bowmanville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bowmanville is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowmanville
- Cicero
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Forest Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- DuPage County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cragin, with the one closest to Cragin listed first.
- Bensenville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Elmhurst
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- South Elmhurst
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- South Elmhurst is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elmhurst
- Oak Brook Terrace
(11 miles [17.7 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
- Oak Brook
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Villa Park
(11 miles [17.7 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
- Wood Dale
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Hinsdale
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Utopia
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Utopia is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utopia
- Addison
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- York Center
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- York Center is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York Center
- Clarendon Hills
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Lombard
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Kane County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cragin, with the one closest to Cragin listed first.
- East Dundee
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Batavia
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Coleman
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Coleman is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman
- Elgin
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Geneva
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Saint Charles
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- South Elgin
(29 miles [46.7 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
- Carpentersville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Aurora
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Mooseheart
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Sleepy Hollow
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Lake County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cragin, with the one closest to Cragin listed first.
- Braeside
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Braeside is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braeside
- Ravinia
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Ravinia is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravinia
- Deerfield
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Highland Park
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Riverwoods
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Bannockburn
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Highwood
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Buffalo Grove
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Aptakisic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Aptakisic is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aptakisic
- Lincolnshire
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Prairie View
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Prairie View is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie View
- Long Grove
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Deer Park
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- McHenry County
- Fox River Grove
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Will County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cragin, with the one closest to Cragin listed first.
- Colonial Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Colonial Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
- Winston Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Winston Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston Village
- Bolingbrook
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Goodings Grove
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Goodings Grove is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodings Grove
- Homer Glen
(23 miles [37 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>
- Bloomfield Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Bloomfield Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomfield Village
- Romeoville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Frankfort Square
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Frankfort Square is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankfort Square
- Mokena
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Lockport
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Frankfort
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Gilletts ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Gilletts is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilletts
- Fairmont
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Fairmont is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmont
- Lake County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Cragin, with the one closest to Cragin listed first.
- Whiting
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- East Chicago
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Hammond
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Hessville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hessville is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hessville
- Munster
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Highland
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Gary
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Gary is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary
- Population from the 2020 Census: 74,693 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gary <1>
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Cragin, see our County-by-County Page for Cragin.
Cemeteries Near Cragin ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cragin.
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 Cragin - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Cragin covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Cragin, with the one closest to Cragin listed first.
- Mt. Olive Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Mt. Mayrw Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Mayrw Cemetery
- The Mt. Mayrw Cemetery has also been known as:
- Mt. Mayriv Cemetery
- Mt. Isaiah Israel Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- B'nai Abraham Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Rosemont Park Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosemont Park Cemetery
- The Rosemont Park Cemetery has also been known as:
- Rosemont Cemetery
- Irving Park Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irving Park Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Irving Park Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Norridge.
- The Irving Park Cemetery has also been known as:
- Irving Park Boulevard Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #106325 <2>
- Elmwood Memorial Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmwood Memorial Cemetery
- The Elmwood Memorial Cemetery has also been known as:
- Elmwood Cemetery
- Concordia Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Waldheim Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Union Ridge Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Bohemian National Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bohemian National Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Bohemian National Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Albany Park.
- The Bohemian National Cemetery has also been known as:
- Bohemian National Cemetery of Chicago
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #216236 <2>
- St. Luke Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Luke Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Luke Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Albany Park.
- The St. Luke Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Lucas Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #107959 <2>
- Continue List (326 more) ...
- Montrose Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Ridge Lawn Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Westlawn Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 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 in 1895, Cragin had a post office and railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Cragin, with the one closest to Cragin listed first.
- Pacific Junction
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Pacific Junction is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacific Junction
- Hermosa
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Hermosa is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermosa
- Galewood
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Galewood is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galewood
- Oak Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Austin
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Austin is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austin
- Moreland
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Moreland is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moreland
- Central Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Central Park is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Park
- Humboldt Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Humboldt Park is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humboldt Park
- Humboldt
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Humboldt is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humboldt
- Simons
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Simons is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simons
- Avondale
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Avondale is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale
- Irving Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Irving Park is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irving Park
- Continue List (18 more) ...
- Grayland
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Grayland is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayland
- Mont Clare
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Mont Clare is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mont Clare
- Mandell
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Mandell is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mandell
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Cragin. See our List of 1890's Communities around Cragin.
Newspapers Published in Cragin ...
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 62 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cragin.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Cragin, there are papers which were published within 7 miles [11.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Cragin.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Cragin:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Cook County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- DuPage County
- Kane 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 Cragin, 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- Cragin) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |