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 northeast 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 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.
Douglas is located in Knox 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 Knox County: Fulton, Henry, Mercer, Peoria, Stark & Warren.
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:
- Knox County (The home county of Douglas)
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Yates City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Maquon
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Gilson
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Dahinda
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Williamsfield
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Appleton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Appleton is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleton
- De Long
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- De Long is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Long
- Knox
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Knox is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knox
- Knoxville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- East Galesburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- East Galesburg is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Galesburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 761 people
- Abingdon
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Victoria
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Saint Augustine
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Fulton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Farmington
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- London Mills
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Fairview
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Norris
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Brereton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Brereton is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brereton
- Bybee
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Bybee is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bybee
- Canton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Ellisville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Fiatt
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Breeds
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Breeds is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breeds
- Blyton
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Blyton is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blyton
- Babylon
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Babylon is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babylon
- Avon
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Henry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Galva
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Bishop Hill
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Woodhull
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Marshall County
- Camp Grove
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Mason County
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Goofy Ridge
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Goofy Ridge is located in Mason County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goofy Ridge
- Buzzville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Buzzville is located in Mason County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buzzville
- Manito
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Union
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Union is located in Mason County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- McDonough County
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Prairie City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Prairie City is located in McDonough County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 344 people
- Bushnell
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- New Philadelphia
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- New Philadelphia is located in McDonough County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Philadelphia
- Mercer County
- North Henderson
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Peoria County
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Elmwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Brimfield
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Trivoli
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Elmore
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Elmore is located in Peoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmore
- Laura
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Hanna City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Monica
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Monica is located in Peoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monica
- Edwards
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Princeville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Norwood
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Norwood is located in Peoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 447 people
- Glasford
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Dunlap
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Maxwell
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Maxwell is located in Peoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxwell
- Stark County
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- West Jersey
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- West Jersey is located in Stark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Jersey
- La Fayette
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Toulon
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Wyoming
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Speer
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Modena
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Modena is located in Stark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Modena
- Castleton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Tazewell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Radville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Radville is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radville
- Talbott
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Talbott is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talbott
- Wesley
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Wesley is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley
- North Pekin
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- North Pekin is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Pekin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,530 people
- Former name for North Pekin:
- Radio City
- Creve Coeur
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Creve Coeur is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creve Coeur
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,109 people
- Former name for Creve Coeur:
- Wesley City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Creve Coeur <1>
- East Peoria
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- East Peoria is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Peoria
- Population from the 2020 Census: 22,344 people
- Former name for East Peoria:
- Hilton
- Crescent
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Crescent is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent
- Marquette Heights
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Marquette Heights is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marquette Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,617 people
- Pekin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Powerton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Powerton is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powerton
- Stoehrs
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Stoehrs is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoehrs
- Midway
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Midway is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
- Parkland
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Parkland is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkland
- Warren County
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Surrey
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Surrey is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Surrey
- Berwick
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Cameron
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Utah
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Utah is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utah
- Shanghai City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Shanghai City is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanghai City
- Youngstown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Youngstown is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Youngstown
- Gerlaw
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Monmouth
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Roseville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Woodford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Bay View Gardens
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Bay View Gardens is located in Woodford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay View Gardens
- Population from the 2020 Census: 407 people
- Spring Bay
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Spring Bay is located in Woodford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Bay
- Population from the 2020 Census: 456 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.
- Summitt - Douglas Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Uniontown Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Blakeslee Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Yates City Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Kightlinger Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Maquon Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Thurman Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Ouderkirk Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Elba Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Catterton Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Harshbarger Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (320 more) ...
- Housh Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Elmwood City Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Clark Chapel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 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 Douglas had a population of 100 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Yates City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Maquon
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Rapatee
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Rapatee is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rapatee
- Elmwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Farmington
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Gilson
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Cramer
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cramer is located in Peoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cramer
- Dahinda
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- London Mills
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Williamsfield
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Fairview
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Norris
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Appleton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Appleton is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleton
- Trivoli
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Oak Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Oak Hill is located in Peoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hill
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 191 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 27 miles [43.5 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 start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Knox County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Fulton County
- Henry County
- Marshall County
- Mason County
- McDonough County
- Mercer County
- Peoria County
- Stark County
- Tazewell County
- Warren County
- Woodford 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Douglas) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |