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 Grayland (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 Grayland. 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 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.
Grayland 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 Grayland. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Grayland:
- Cook County (The home county of Grayland)
- The following are listed by their distance from Grayland, with the one closest to Grayland listed first.
- Albany Park
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Albany Park is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albany Park
- Jefferson Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Jefferson Park is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson Park
- Cragin
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Cragin is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cragin
- Pacific Junction
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Pacific Junction is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacific Junction
- Lincolnwood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Bowmanville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Bowmanville is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowmanville
- Maplewood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Maplewood is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
- Elmwood Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Dunning
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Dunning is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunning
- Harwood Heights
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Moreland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Moreland is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moreland
- Norridge
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- DuPage County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grayland, with the one closest to Grayland listed first.
- Bensenville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- South Elmhurst
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- South Elmhurst is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elmhurst
- Elmhurst
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Villa Park
(12 miles [19.3 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
- Wood Dale
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Hinsdale
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Oak Brook Terrace
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- 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
- Oak Brook
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Utopia
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Utopia is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utopia
- York Center
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- York Center is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York Center
- Addison
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Itasca
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Kane County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grayland, with the one closest to Grayland listed first.
- East Dundee
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Coleman
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Coleman is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman
- Elgin
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Batavia
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Geneva
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Saint Charles
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- South Elgin
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- South Elgin is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elgin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 24,646 people
- Carpentersville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Sleepy Hollow
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Lake County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grayland, with the one closest to Grayland listed first.
- Braeside
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Braeside is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braeside
- Ravinia
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Ravinia is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravinia
- Deerfield
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Highland Park
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Bannockburn
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Highwood
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Buffalo Grove
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Riverwoods
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Aptakisic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Aptakisic is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aptakisic
- Lincolnshire
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Prairie View
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Prairie View is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie View
- Lake Forest
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- McHenry County
- Fox River Grove
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Will County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grayland, with the one closest to Grayland listed first.
- Colonial Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Colonial Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
- Winston Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Winston Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston Village
- Bloomfield Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Bloomfield Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomfield Village
- Bolingbrook
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Goodings Grove
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Goodings Grove is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodings Grove
- Homer Glen
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- 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>
- Romeoville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Frankfort Square
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Frankfort Square is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankfort Square
- Mokena
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Lockport
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lake County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Grayland, with the one closest to Grayland listed first.
- Whiting
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- East Chicago
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Hammond
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Hessville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Hessville is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hessville
- Munster
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Grayland, see our County-by-County Page for Grayland.
Cemeteries Near Grayland ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Grayland.
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 Grayland - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Grayland covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Grayland, with the one closest to Grayland listed first.
- Bohemian National Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bohemian National Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Bohemian National Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Albany Park.
- The Bohemian National Cemetery has also been known as:
- Bohemian National Cemetery of Chicago
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #216236 <2>
- St. Luke Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- 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 in Albany Park.
- The St. Luke Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Lucas Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #107959 <2>
- Montrose Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Ridge Lawn Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Mt. Olive Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Mt. Isaiah Israel Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Mt. Mayrw Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Mayrw Cemetery
- The Mt. Mayrw Cemetery has also been known as:
- Mt. Mayriv Cemetery
- Rosemont Park Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosemont Park Cemetery
- The Rosemont Park Cemetery has also been known as:
- Rosemont Cemetery
- B'nai Abraham Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Rosehill Mausoleum
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- New Light Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Union Ridge Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (305 more) ...
- Immaculate Conception Monastery Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Irving Park Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irving Park Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Irving Park Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Norridge.
- The Irving Park Cemetery has also been known as:
- Irving Park Boulevard Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #106325 <2>
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Joseph Cemetery
- The St. Joseph Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Joseph's Cemetery
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, Grayland had railroad service and no post office.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Grayland, with the one closest to Grayland listed first.
- Irving Park
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Irving Park is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irving Park
- Hermosa
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Hermosa is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermosa
- Mayfair
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Mayfair is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayfair
- Cragin
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Cragin is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cragin
- Pacific Junction
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Pacific Junction is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacific Junction
- Avondale
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Avondale is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale
- Jefferson Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Jefferson Park is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson Park
- Mont Clare
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Mont Clare is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mont Clare
- Galewood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Galewood is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galewood
- Humboldt Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Humboldt Park is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humboldt Park
- Simons
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Simons is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simons
- Humboldt
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Humboldt is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humboldt
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Maplewood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Maplewood is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
- Cuyler
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Cuyler is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuyler
- Bowmanville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Bowmanville is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowmanville
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Grayland. See our List of 1890's Communities around Grayland.
Newspapers Published in Grayland ...
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 60 newspapers that have been published in the area around Grayland.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Grayland, there are papers which were published within 8 miles [12.9 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Grayland.
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 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 Grayland:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Cook County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- DuPage County
- Kane County
- Lake County
- McHenry County
- Will 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> | 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 Grayland, 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- Grayland) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |