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 Idlewild (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 Idlewild. 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 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.
Idlewild is located in Lake 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 Lake County: Cook, McHenry, Allegan (MI), Berrien (MI), Van Buren (MI) & Kenosha (WI).
Below are the counties that are near Idlewild. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Idlewild:
- Lake County (The home county of Idlewild)
- The following are listed by their distance from Idlewild, with the one closest to Idlewild listed first.
- Gages Lake
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Third Lake
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Grandwood Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Grandwood Park is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandwood Park
- Grayslake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Gurnee
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Hainesville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Lindenhurst
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Lindenhurst is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lindenhurst
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,117 people
- Lindenhurst has also been known as:
- Lindenhurst village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lindenhurst <1>
- Venetian Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Venetian Village is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Venetian Village
- Libertyville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Round Lake Beach
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Round Lake Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Fremont Center
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Fremont Center is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont Center
- Cook County
- The following are listed by their distance from Idlewild, with the one closest to Idlewild listed first.
- Capri Village
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Capri Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capri Village
- Wheeling
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Barrington
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Palatine
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Inverness
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Prospect Heights
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Northbrook
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Arlington Heights
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Plum Grove Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Plum Grove Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Grove Village
- Colonial Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Colonial Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
- Covenant Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Covenant Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covenant Village
- Barrington Hills
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Barrington Hills is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,152 people
- DuPage County
- The following are listed by their distance from Idlewild, with the one closest to Idlewild listed first.
- Itasca
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Roselle
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Medinah
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Wood Dale
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Bartlett
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Bensenville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Bloomingdale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Keeneyville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Keeneyville is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keeneyville
- Addison
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Cloverdale
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Cloverdale is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Carol Stream
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Glendale Heights
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Kane County
- The following are listed by their distance from Idlewild, with the one closest to Idlewild listed first.
- Carpentersville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- East Dundee
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Sleepy Hollow
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- West Dundee
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Freeman
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Freeman is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
- Gilberts
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Elgin
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Pingree Grove
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- South Elgin
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- South Elgin is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elgin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 24,646 people
- Starks
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Starks is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starks
- Coleman
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Coleman is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman
- Hampshire
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- McHenry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Idlewild, with the one closest to Idlewild listed first.
- Lakemoor
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Island Lake
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Island Lake is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,951 people
- Pistakee Highlands
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Pistakee Highlands is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pistakee Highlands
- Holiday Hills
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Holiday Hills is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 574 people
- Johnsburg
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Sunnyside
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Sunnyside is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
- Spring Grove
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Oakwood Hills
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Oakwood Hills is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,011 people
- Barreville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Barreville is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barreville
- Fox River Grove
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- McCullom Lake
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- McCullom Lake is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCullom Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 996 people
- McHenry
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Kenosha County (WI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Idlewild, with the one closest to Idlewild listed first.
- Fossland
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Fossland is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fossland
- Benet Lake
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Benet Lake is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benet Lake
- Lake Shangrila
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Lake Shangrila is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Shangrila
- Pleasant Prairie
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Pleasant Prairie is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Prairie
- Population from the 2020 Census: 21,373 people
- Bristol
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Bristol is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,145 people
- Woodworth
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Woodworth is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodworth
- Camp Lake
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Camp Lake is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Lake
- Salem Lakes
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Salem Lakes is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem Lakes
- Former names for Salem Lakes:
- Salem
- Silver Lake
- Paddock Lake
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Paddock Lake is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paddock Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,232 people
- Fox River
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Fox River is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox River
- Twin Lakes
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Twin Lakes is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,234 people
- Kenosha
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Kenosha is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenosha
- Population from the 2020 Census: 99,570 people
- Racine County (WI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Idlewild, with the one closest to Idlewild listed first.
- Union Grove
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Union Grove is located in Racine County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,266 people
- Bohners Lake
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Bohners Lake is located in Racine County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bohners Lake
- Elmwood Park
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Elmwood Park is located in Racine County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmwood Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 488 people
- Sturtevant
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Sturtevant is located in Racine County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sturtevant
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,637 people
- Eagle Lake
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Eagle Lake is located in Racine County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Lake
- Mount Pleasant
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Mount Pleasant is located in Racine County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Population from the 2020 Census: 27,048 people
- Yorkville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Yorkville is located in Racine County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkville
- Browns Lake
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Browns Lake is located in Racine County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Lake
- Burlington
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Burlington is located in Racine County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,898 people
- Racine
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Racine is located in Racine County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Racine
- Population from the 2020 Census: 76,237 people
- Franksville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Franksville is located in Racine County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franksville
- Rochester
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Rochester is located in Racine County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,880 people
- Walworth County (WI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Idlewild, with the one closest to Idlewild listed first.
- Genoa City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Genoa City is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genoa City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,981 people
- Pell Lake
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Pell Lake is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pell Lake
- Lake Geneva
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Lake Geneva is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Geneva
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,096 people
- Lyons
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Lyons is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyons
- Voree ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Voree is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voree
- Zenda
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Zenda is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zenda
- Springfield
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Springfield is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springfield
- Como
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Como is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Como
- Lake Como Beach ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Lake Como Beach is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Como Beach
- Lake Como
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Lake Como is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Como
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Idlewild, see our County-by-County Page for Idlewild.
Cemeteries Near Idlewild ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Idlewild.
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 Idlewild - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Idlewild covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Idlewild, with the one closest to Idlewild listed first.
- Druce Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Highland Memorial Park
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Grayslake Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Sant Sava Monastery Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Serbian Monastery Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Warren Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Avon Centre Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Millburn Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Lakeside Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Lake County Poor Farm Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Ascension Catholic Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Ft. Hill Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Continue List (268 more) ...
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- St. Marys Catholic Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Ivanhoe Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
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 Idlewild in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Idlewild.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Idlewild, with the one closest to Idlewild listed first.
- Grayslake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Gurnee
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Hainesville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Libertyville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Rollins
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Rollins is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollins
- Fremont Center
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Fremont Center is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont Center
- Ivanhoe
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Ivanhoe is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
- Rockefeller
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Rockefeller is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockefeller
- Millburn
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Millburn is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millburn
- Fort Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Fort Hill is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Hill
- Wadsworth
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Villa
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Lake Villa is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Villa
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,525 people
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Diamond Lake
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Diamond Lake is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond Lake
- Leithton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Leithton is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leithton
- Rondout
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Rondout is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rondout
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Idlewild. See our List of 1890's Communities around Idlewild.
Newspapers Published in Idlewild ...
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 69 newspapers that have been published in the area around Idlewild.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Idlewild, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Idlewild.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Idlewild:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Lake County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cook County
- DuPage County
- Kane County
- McHenry County
- Kenosha County
- Racine County
- Walworth 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 Idlewild, 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- Idlewild) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |