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 Eagle Lake (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 Eagle Lake. 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.
Name Variations for Eagle Lake ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Eagle Lake: Eagle Lk.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Eagle Lake. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Eagle Lake.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Eagle Lake is located in Will 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 Will County: Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall & Lake (IN).
Below are the counties that are near Eagle Lake. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Eagle Lake:
- Will County (The home county of Eagle Lake)
- The following are listed by their distance from Eagle Lake, with the one closest to Eagle Lake listed first.
- Beecher
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Goodenow
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Goodenow is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodenow
- Willowbrook
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Crete
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Steger
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- University Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Monee
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Peotone
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Frankfort Square
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Frankfort Square is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankfort Square
- Frankfort
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Mokena
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Wallingford
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Wallingford is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallingford
- Wilton Center
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Cook County
- The following are listed by their distance from Eagle Lake, with the one closest to Eagle Lake listed first.
- Sauk Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Ford Heights
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- South Chicago Heights
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- South Chicago Heights is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Chicago Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,957 people
- Lynwood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Chicago Heights
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Park Forest
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Richton Park
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Glenwood
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Olympia Fields
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Lansing
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Flossmoor
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Homewood
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Matteson
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Iroquois County
- The following are listed by their distance from Eagle Lake, with the one closest to Eagle Lake listed first.
- Papineau
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Beaverville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Kankakee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Eagle Lake, with the one closest to Eagle Lake listed first.
- Sherburnville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Sherburnville is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherburnville
- Grant Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Grant Park is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,231 people
- Illinoi
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Illinoi is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illinoi
- Illiana Heights
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Illiana Heights is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illiana Heights
- Litchfield
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Litchfield is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Litchfield
- Momence
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Manteno
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Saint George
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Saint George is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint George
- Sun River Terrace
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Sun River Terrace is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun River Terrace
- Population from the 2020 Census: 488 people
- Hopkins Park
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Hopkins Park is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopkins Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 608 people
- Hopkins Park has also been known as:
- Hopkins Park village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hopkins Park <1>
- Bradley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bourbonnais
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Aroma Park
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Jasper County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Eagle Lake, with the one closest to Eagle Lake listed first.
- Forest City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Forest City is located in Jasper County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
- DeMotte
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- DeMotte is located in Jasper County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeMotte
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,172 people
- DeMotte has also been known as:
- De Motte
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for DeMotte <1>
- Fair Oaks
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Stoutsburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Stoutsburg is located in Jasper County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoutsburg
- Virgie
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Virgie is located in Jasper County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgie
- Wheatfield
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Lake County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Eagle Lake, with the one closest to Eagle Lake listed first.
- Cedar Lake
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Saint John
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Dalecarlia
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Lake Dalecarlia is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Dalecarlia
- Dyer
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- 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>
- Lowell
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Schererville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Crown Point
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Hartsdale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Hartsdale is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartsdale
- Lincoln Village
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lincoln Village is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Village
- New Elliott
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- New Elliott is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Elliott
- Munster
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Griffith
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Illinoi
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Illinoi is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illinoi
- Newton County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Eagle Lake, with the one closest to Eagle Lake listed first.
- Sumava Resorts
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Lake Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Lake Village is located in Newton County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Village
- Thayer
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Thayer is located in Newton County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thayer
- Roselawn
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Roselawn is located in Newton County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roselawn
- Morocco
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Porter County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Eagle Lake, with the one closest to Eagle Lake listed first.
- Hebron
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Porter Crossroads
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Porter Crossroads is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter Crossroads
- Boone Grove
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Boone Grove is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boone Grove
- Wheeler
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Wheeler is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler
- Aylesworth
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Aylesworth is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aylesworth
- Portage
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- South Haven
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- South Haven is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Haven
- Willow Creek
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Willow Creek is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Creek
- Woodland Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Woodland Village is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Village
- Ogden Dunes
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Ogden Dunes is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogden Dunes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,083 people
- Valparaiso
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Kouts
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Babcock
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Babcock is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babcock
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Eagle Lake, see our County-by-County Page for Eagle Lake.
Cemeteries Near Eagle Lake ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Eagle Lake.
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 Eagle Lake - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Eagle Lake covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Eagle Lake, with the one closest to Eagle Lake listed first.
- St. Johns Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Brunswick Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Eagle Lake Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Lake Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Eagle Lake Cemetery is located 5 miles [8 km]<2> to the northeast of Beecher.
- The Eagle Lake Cemetery has also been known as:
- North Cemetery
- St. John Lutheran Church North Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #105482 <3>
- St. Luke Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- 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 outside and to the south of Beecher.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #107961 <3>
- St. John UCC Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Zion Evangelical Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- St. Paulus Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Paulus Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Paulus Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<2> to the northwest of Beecher.
- The St. Paulus Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Pauls Lutheran Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2217242 <3>
- Fuller Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- German Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Holy Name Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Schubert Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Beebe's Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beebe's Grove Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Beebe's Grove Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<2> to the east of Crete.
- The Beebe's Grove Cemetery has also been known as:
- Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
- Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
- Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2288139 <3>
- Continue List (279 more) ...
- Trinity Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<2> to the south of Crete.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #108588 <3>
- Zion Cemetery
(5 miles [8 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.<4>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Eagle Lake had a population of 50 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Eagle Lake, with the one closest to Eagle Lake listed first.
- Klaasville
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Klaasville is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klaasville
- Brunswick
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Brunswick is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brunswick
- Beecher
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Goodenow
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Goodenow is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodenow
- Cedar Lake
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Sollitt
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sollitt is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sollitt
- Creston
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Creston is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creston
- Crete
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Saint John
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Lowell
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Dyer
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- 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>
- Sherburnville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Sherburnville is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherburnville
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Schererville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Grant Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Grant Park is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,231 people
- Chicago Heights
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Eagle Lake. See our List of 1890's Communities around Eagle Lake.
Newspapers Published in Eagle Lake ...
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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Eagle Lake.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Eagle Lake, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Eagle Lake.
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 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 Eagle Lake:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Will County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cook County
- Iroquois County
- Kankakee County
- Jasper County
- Lake County
- Newton 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> | 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- Eagle Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Eagle Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |