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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 Hickory Creek (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 Hickory Creek. 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 Hickory Creek ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Hickory Creek: Hickory Crk. (or less commonly used: Hickory Ck. or Hickory Cr.)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Hickory Creek. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Hickory Creek.

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.

Hickory Creek is located in Winnebago 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 Winnebago County: Boone, DeKalb, Ogle, Stephenson, Green (WI) & Rock (WI).

Below are the counties that are near Hickory Creek. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Hickory Creek:

  • Winnebago County     (The home county of Hickory Creek)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hickory Creek, with the one closest to Hickory Creek listed first.
    • Indian Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Indian Village is located in Winnebago County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
    • Alworth
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Alworth is located in Winnebago County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alworth
    • Rockford
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Winnebago
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • New Millford
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • New Millford is located in Winnebago County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Millford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 851 people
    • North Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • North Park is located in Winnebago County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Park
    • Wempletown
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Wempletown is located in Winnebago County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wempletown
    • Cherry Valley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Machesney Park
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Sturbridge Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Sturbridge Village is located in Winnebago County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sturbridge Village
    • Seward
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Loves Park
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Pecatonica
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Boone County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hickory Creek, with the one closest to Hickory Creek listed first.
    • Irene
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Irene is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irene
    • Belvidere
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Caledonia
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Timberlane
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Timberlane is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timberlane
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 934 people
    • Poplar Grove
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Herbert
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Herbert is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herbert
    • Russellville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Russellville is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russellville
    • Garden Prairie
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Capron
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Carroll County
    • Shannon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • DeKalb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hickory Creek, with the one closest to Hickory Creek listed first.
    • Fairdale
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Fairdale is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairdale
    • Esmond
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Kirkland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Kingston
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Clare
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Brush Point ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Brush Point is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Point
    • Genoa
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Malta
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Coltonville ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Coltonville is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coltonville
    • Charter Grove
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Charter Grove is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charter Grove
    • New Lebanon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • New Lebanon is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lebanon
    • De Kalb
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Sycamore
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Sycamore is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,317 people
  • Lee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hickory Creek, with the one closest to Hickory Creek listed first.
    • Ashton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Steward
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Franklin Grove
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Nachusa
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Dixon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • McHenry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hickory Creek, with the one closest to Hickory Creek listed first.
    • Marengo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Harvard
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Ogle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hickory Creek, with the one closest to Hickory Creek listed first.
    • Davis Junction
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Stillman Valley
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Byron
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Holcomb
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Monroe Center
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Egan
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Egan is located in Ogle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egan
    • Lindenwood
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Leaf River
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Chana
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Oregon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Honey Creek
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Honey Creek is located in Ogle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Creek
    • Watertown
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Watertown is located in Ogle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watertown
    • Adeline
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Adeline is located in Ogle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adeline
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 81 people
  • Stephenson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hickory Creek, with the one closest to Hickory Creek listed first.
    • German Valley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Ridott
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Davis
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Davis is located in Stephenson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davis
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 616 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Davis <1>
    • Rock City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Rock City is located in Stephenson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 279 people
    • Dakota
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Rock Grove
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Rock Grove is located in Stephenson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Grove
    • Freeport
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Afolkey
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Afolkey is located in Stephenson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Afolkey
    • Florence
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Florence is located in Stephenson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
    • Cedarville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Red Oak
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Red Oak is located in Stephenson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oak
    • Bolton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Bolton is located in Stephenson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolton
    • Buena Vista
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Buena Vista is located in Stephenson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
  • Green County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hickory Creek, with the one closest to Hickory Creek listed first.
    • Brodhead
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Brodhead is located in Green County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brodhead
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,204 people
    • Twin Grove
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Twin Grove is located in Green County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Grove
  • Rock County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hickory Creek, with the one closest to Hickory Creek listed first.
    • Beloit
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Beloit is located in Rock County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beloit
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 36,637 people
    • Newark
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Newark is located in Rock County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newark
    • Avon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Avon is located in Rock County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
    • Garden Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Garden Village is located in Rock County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Village
    • Shopiere
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Shopiere is located in Rock County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shopiere
    • Clinton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Clinton is located in Rock County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,119 people
    • Tiffany
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Tiffany is located in Rock County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiffany
    • Hanover
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Hanover is located in Rock County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanover
    • Orfordville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Orfordville is located in Rock County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orfordville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,486 people
  • Walworth County (WI)
    • Sharon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Sharon is located in Walworth County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,546 people

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Hickory Creek, see our County-by-County Page for Hickory Creek.

Cemeteries Near Hickory Creek ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hickory Creek.

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 Hickory Creek - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Hickory Creek covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Hickory Creek, with the one closest to Hickory Creek listed first.

  • Willwood Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Kishwaukee Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Winnebago Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • New Milford Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Cedar Bluff Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Middle Creek Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Starkey Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Scandinavian Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • St. James & St. Marys Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Mt. Auburn Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (252 more) ...
    • Stillman Valley Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Guilford Turner Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Prospect Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 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>

While we didn't find Hickory Creek in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Hickory Creek.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Hickory Creek, with the one closest to Hickory Creek listed first.

  • Kishwaukee
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Kishwaukee is located in Winnebago County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kishwaukee
  • New Millford
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • New Millford is located in Winnebago County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Millford
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 851 people
  • Greendale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Greendale is located in Winnebago County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greendale
  • Rockford
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Ruby
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Ruby is located in Winnebago County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby
  • Byron
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Wempletown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Wempletown is located in Winnebago County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wempletown
  • Stillman Valley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Davis Junction
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Jonesville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jonesville is located in Winnebago County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesville
  • Perryville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Perryville is located in Winnebago County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perryville
  • Genet
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Genet is located in Winnebago County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genet
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Myrtle
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Myrtle is located in Ogle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myrtle
    • Cherry Valley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Harlem
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Harlem is located in Winnebago County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harlem

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Hickory Creek. See our List of 1890's Communities around Hickory Creek.

Newspapers Published in Hickory Creek ...

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 29 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hickory Creek.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hickory Creek, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hickory Creek.

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 Hickory Creek:

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 Hickory Creek, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Hickory Creek) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.