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 Douglas (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 Douglas. 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.
Douglas 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 Douglas. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Douglas:
- Cook County (The home county of Douglas)
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Grant Village
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Grant Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant Village
- Canaryville
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Canaryville is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canaryville
- Bridgeport
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Bridgeport is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeport
- Chicago
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Washington Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Washington Park is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washington Park
- New City
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- New City is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New City
- Hyde Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Swede Town
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Swede Town is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swede Town
- Brookdale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Brookdale is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookdale
- Englewood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Englewood is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englewood
- Carl Sandburg Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- West Town
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- West Town is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Town
- Chicago Lawn
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Chicago Lawn is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicago Lawn
- DuPage County
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Hinsdale
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- South Elmhurst
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- South Elmhurst is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elmhurst
- Clarendon Hills
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Elmhurst
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Oak Brook
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Willowbrook
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Bensenville
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Oak Brook Terrace
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- 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
- Utopia
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Utopia is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utopia
- Villa Park
(18 miles [29 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
- Westmont
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Darien
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- York Center
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- York Center is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York Center
- Lake County
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Braeside
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Braeside is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braeside
- Ravinia
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Ravinia is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravinia
- Highland Park
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Deerfield
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Highwood
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Bannockburn
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Riverwoods
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Buffalo Grove
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Aptakisic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Aptakisic is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aptakisic
- Lincolnshire
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Prairie View
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Prairie View is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie View
- Will County
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Goodings Grove
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Goodings Grove is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodings Grove
- Homer Glen
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- 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>
- Frankfort Square
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Frankfort Square is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankfort Square
- Colonial Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Colonial Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
- Winston Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Winston Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston Village
- Steger
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Bloomfield Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bloomfield Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomfield Village
- Mokena
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bolingbrook
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Crete
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Willowbrook
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Frankfort
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Gilletts ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Gilletts is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilletts
- Lake County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Whiting
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- East Chicago
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Hammond
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Hessville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Hessville is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hessville
- Munster
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Gary
(21 miles [33.8 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>
- Highland
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Duneland Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Duneland Village is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duneland Village
- Griffith
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Dyer
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Dyer is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyer
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15,955 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dyer <1>
- Hartsdale
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Hartsdale is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartsdale
- Duneland Village of Gary
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Ross
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Ross is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ross
- Porter County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Ogden Dunes
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Ogden Dunes is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogden Dunes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,083 people
- Woodland Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Woodland Village is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Village
- Portage
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Willow Creek
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Willow Creek is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Creek
- Burns Harbor
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Dune Acres
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Dune Acres is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dune Acres
- Population from the 2020 Census: 182 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Douglas, see our County-by-County Page for Douglas.
Cemeteries Near Douglas ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Douglas.
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 Douglas - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Douglas covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Oak Woods Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Couch Mausoleum
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- St. Mary Catholic Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Getty Tomb
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Graceland Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Hebrew Benevolent Society Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Wunder's Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wunder's Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Wunder's Cemetery is located in Buena Park.
- The Wunder's Cemetery has also been known as:
- Wunders Lutheran Cemetery
- Mt. Auburn Memorial Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- St. Boniface Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Waldheim Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Mt. Greenwood Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Continue List (306 more) ...
- Mt. Olivet Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Olivet Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mt. Olivet Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Blue Island.
- The Mt. Olivet Cemetery has also been known as:
- Mt. Olivet Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #107055 <2>
- Rosehill Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Rosehill Mausoleum
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
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, Douglas had railroad service and no post office.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Oakland
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Oakland is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
- Bridgeport
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Bridgeport is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeport
- Chicago
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Kenwood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Kenwood is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenwood
- Hyde Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Brighton Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Brighton Park is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brighton Park
- Englewood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Englewood is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englewood
- Park Manor
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Park Manor is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Manor
- Brookdale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Brookdale is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookdale
- Corwith
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Corwith is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corwith
- Glendale
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Glendale is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
- Chicago Lawn
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Chicago Lawn is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicago Lawn
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- South Lynn
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- South Lynn is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Lynn
- Auburn Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Auburn Park is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburn Park
- Brookline
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Brookline is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookline
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Douglas. See our List of 1890's Communities around Douglas.
Newspapers Published in Douglas ...
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 9 newspapers that have been published in the area around Douglas.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Douglas, there are papers which were published within 6 miles [9.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Douglas.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Douglas:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Cook County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- DuPage County
- Lake County
- Will County
- Lake County
- Porter 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 Douglas, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Douglas) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |