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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 Dahlgren (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 Dahlgren. 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 doctors and 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.

Dahlgren is located in Hamilton 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 Hamilton County: Franklin, Gallatin, Jefferson, Saline, Wayne, White & Williamson.

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

  • Hamilton County     (The home county of Dahlgren)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dahlgren, with the one closest to Dahlgren listed first.
    • Lovilla
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Piopolis
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Belle Prairie City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Belle Prairie City is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Prairie City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 50 people
    • Flint
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Macedonia
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Diamond City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Diamond City is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond City
    • McLeansboro
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jefferson City ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Jefferson City is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson City
    • Bungay
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Dale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Walpole
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Broughton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Clay County
  • Edwards County
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dahlgren, with the one closest to Dahlgren listed first.
    • Frisco
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Taylor Hill
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Ewing
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Akin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Whittington
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Steel City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Benton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Hanaford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Hanaford is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanaford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 316 people
    • Smothersville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Smothersville is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smothersville
    • Parrish
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Thompsonville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • West City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • West City is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 626 people
    • Rend City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Rend City is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rend City
  • Gallatin County
  • Jefferson County
  • Marion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dahlgren, with the one closest to Dahlgren listed first.
    • Hickory Hill
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Hickory Hill is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hill
    • Union Town
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Union Town is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Town
    • Kell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Cartter
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Walnut Hill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Iuka
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Bannister
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Perry County
    • Tamaroa
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Saline County
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dahlgren, with the one closest to Dahlgren listed first.
    • Ashley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Du Bois
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Du Bois is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Du Bois
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 189 people
    • Radom
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Radom is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radom
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 209 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Radom <1>
    • Richview
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Baldwin Heights
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Baldwin Heights is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baldwin Heights
    • Irvington
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Wayne County
  • White County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dahlgren, with the one closest to Dahlgren listed first.
    • Springerton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Mill Shoals
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Enfield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Burnt Prairie
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Norris City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Stokes
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Carmi
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Roland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Roland is located in White County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roland
  • Williamson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dahlgren, with the one closest to Dahlgren listed first.
    • Corinth
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Corinth is located in Williamson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinth
    • Hartford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Hartford is located in Williamson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartford
    • Freeman Spur
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Stiritz
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Johnston City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Pittsburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Dahlgren ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Dahlgren.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Dahlgren, with the one closest to Dahlgren 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 Dahlgren had a population of 301 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Dahlgren had a population of 502 people.

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

  • Belle Rive
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Delafield
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Delafield is located in Hamilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delafield
  • Piopolis
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Opdyke
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Taylor Hill
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Mayberry
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Mayberry is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayberry
  • Spring Garden
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Spring Garden is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Garden
  • Bluford
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Flint
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Macedonia
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Keenes
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Marlow
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Dahlgren ...

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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around Dahlgren.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Dahlgren. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Dahlgren and those printed in the larger area surrounding Dahlgren.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<4> of Dahlgren.

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 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 Dahlgren:

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 Dahlgren, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Dahlgren) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.