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 Forest Park (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 Forest Park. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.
Forest Park 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 Forest Park. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Forest Park:
- Will County (The home county of Forest Park)
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- Fairmont
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Fairmont is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmont
- East Joliet
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- East Joliet is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Joliet
- Ingalls Park
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Ingalls Park is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingalls Park
- Joliet
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Cherry Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Cherry Hill is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Hill
- Crest Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Lockport
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Preston Heights
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Preston Heights is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston Heights
- Rockdale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Rockdale is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,884 people
- New Lenox
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Crystal Lawns
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Crystal Lawns is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lawns
- Gilletts ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Gilletts is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilletts
- Brisbane
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Brisbane is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brisbane
- Cook County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- Lemont
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Orland Hills
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Orland Park
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Tinley Park
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Palos Park
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Burr Ridge
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Palos Heights
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Palos Hills
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Willow Springs
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Matteson
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Oak Forest
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Worth
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Chicago Ridge
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- DeKalb County
- Sandwich
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- DuPage County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- Tedens ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Tedens is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tedens
- Woodridge
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Darien
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Naperville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Willowbrook
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Lisle
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Westmont
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Clarendon Hills
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Downers Grove
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Hinsdale
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Eola
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Oak Brook
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Warrenville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Grundy County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- Channahon
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Minooka
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Sand Ridge
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sand Ridge is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Ridge
- Diamond
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Carbon Hill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Carbon Hill is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon Hill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 334 people
- Coal City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Claypool
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Claypool is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claypool
- Gaslight Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Gaslight Village is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaslight Village
- Morris
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Centerville ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Centerville is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Braceville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Central City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Central City is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central City
- East Brooklyn
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- East Brooklyn is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Brooklyn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 104 people
- Kane County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- Aurora
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Mooseheart
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- North Aurora
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- North Aurora is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Aurora
- Population from the 2020 Census: 18,144 people
- Batavia
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Sugar Grove
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Geneva
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Saint Charles
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Big Rock
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Bonnie
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Bonnie is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonnie
- Bonnie has also been known as:
- Bonnie Valley
- Kankakee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- Manteno
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Bourbonnais
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Essex
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Bonfield
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Bradley
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Saint George
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Saint George is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint George
- Goodrich
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Goodrich is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodrich
- Limestone
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Limestone is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limestone
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,498 people
- Union Hill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Grant Park
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Grant Park is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,231 people
- Kendall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- Oswego
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Plattville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Plattville is located in Kendall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plattville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
- Boulder Hill
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Boulder Hill is located in Kendall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder Hill
- Montgomery
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Bristol
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Yorkville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Lisbon
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Lisbon is located in Kendall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisbon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 310 people
- Millbrook
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Plano
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Newark
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Little Rock
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Little Rock is located in Kendall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rock
- La Salle County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- Millington
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Stavanger
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Stavanger is located in La Salle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stavanger
- Lake County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- Dyer
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- 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>
- Hammond
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Munster
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Hartsdale
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Hartsdale is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartsdale
- Hessville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Hessville is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hessville
- Highland
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Forest Park, see our County-by-County Page for Forest Park.
Cemeteries Near Forest Park ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Forest Park.
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 Forest Park - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Forest Park covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- St. Nicholas Orthodox Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Nicholas Orthodox Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Nicholas Orthodox Cemetery is located outside and to the northeast of Joliet.
- The St. Nicholas Orthodox Cemetery has also been known as:
- Russian Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #107802 <2>
- Mt. Calvary Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Oakwood Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Oakwood Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Joliet.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #261051 <2>
- Elmhurst Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmhurst Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Elmhurst Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Joliet.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #105558 <2>
- St. Peter Lutheran Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- St. Peters Lutheran Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Mt. Olivet Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles 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 Joliet.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #107054 <2>
- St. Cyril and Methodius Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- St. Cyrils Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- St. John the Baptist Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. John the Baptist Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. John the Baptist Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Joliet.
- The St. John the Baptist Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Johns Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #107908 <2>
- St. Patricks Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Lockport South Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockport South Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Lockport South Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Lockport.
- The Lockport South Cemetery has also been known as:
- Lockport Catholic Cemetery
- St. Dennis Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2289328 <2>
- Continue List (375 more) ...
- Mound Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mound Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mound Cemetery is located outside and to the east of Joliet.
- The Mound Cemetery has also been known as:
- Rudd Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2339538 <2>
- Illinois State Prison Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illinois State Prison Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Illinois State Prison Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<3> to the north of Joliet.
- The Illinois State Prison Cemetery has also been known as:
- Stateville Prison Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1990082 <2>
- St. Mary Nativity Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 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>
While we didn't find Forest Park in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Forest Park.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- East Joliet
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- East Joliet is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Joliet
- Joliet
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Lockport
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Coynes
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Coynes is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coynes
- Steele
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Steele is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steele
- New Lenox
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Romeo
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Romeo is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romeo
- Brisbane
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Brisbane is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brisbane
- Spencer
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Spencer is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spencer
- Marley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Marley is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marley
- Mokena
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Goodings Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Goodings Grove is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodings Grove
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Millsdale
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Millsdale is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millsdale
- Manhattan
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Alpine
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Alpine is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Forest Park. See our List of 1890's Communities around Forest Park.
Newspapers Published in Forest Park ...
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 90 newspapers that have been published in the area around Forest Park.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Forest Park, there are papers which were published within 8 miles [12.9 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Forest Park.
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 Forest Park:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Will County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cook County
- DeKalb County
- DuPage County
- Grundy County
- Kane County
- Kankakee County
- Kendall County
- La Salle 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Forest Park) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Forest Park, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |