RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Will County >> Joliet >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Joliet (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 Joliet. 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 Joliet ...

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.

Another variation: Juliet.

  • In past government published Postal Guides, Joliet was referred to as Joliet Courthouse.

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

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.

For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.

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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Joliet is primarily located in Will County and is the County Seat. A portion of Joliet extends into Kendall 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 Joliet. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Joliet:

  • Will County     (The home county of Joliet)
  • Cook County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Joliet, with the one closest to Joliet listed first.
    • Lemont
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Orland Hills
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Orland Park
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Tinley Park
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Palos Park
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Matteson
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Oak Forest
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Burr Ridge
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Palos Heights
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Palos Hills
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Willow Springs
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Country Club Hills
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Worth
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • DeKalb County
  • DuPage County
  • Grundy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Joliet, with the one closest to Joliet listed first.
    • Channahon
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Minooka
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Sand Ridge
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Diamond
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Carbon Hill
      (19 miles [30.6 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
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Claypool
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Gaslight Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Gaslight Village is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaslight Village
    • Morris
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Centerville ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Centerville is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
    • Braceville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Central City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Central City is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central City
    • Clarke City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Clarke City is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarke City
  • Kane County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Joliet, with the one closest to Joliet listed first.
    • Aurora
      (20 miles [32.2 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
    • Mooseheart
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Sugar Grove
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Batavia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Geneva
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Big Rock
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Charles
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Kankakee County
  • Kendall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Joliet, with the one closest to Joliet listed first.
    • Plattville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Plattville is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plattville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
    • Oswego
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • 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
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Yorkville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Lisbon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Plano
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Plano is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plano
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,879 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plano <1>
    • Millbrook
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Newark
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Little Rock
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Little Rock is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rock
  • La Salle County
  • Lake County (IN)

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

Cemeteries Near Joliet ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Joliet.

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 Joliet - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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 Joliet had a population of 23,264 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Joliet had a population of 146,673 people.

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

  • East Joliet
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • East Joliet is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Joliet
  • Lockport
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Coynes
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Coynes is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coynes
  • Brisbane
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Steele
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Steele is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steele
  • New Lenox
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Millsdale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Millsdale is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millsdale
  • Spencer
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Spencer is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spencer
  • Elwood
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Manhattan
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Marley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Marley is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marley
  • Romeo
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Romeo is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romeo
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Caton Farm
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Caton Farm is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caton Farm
    • Drummond
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Drummond is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drummond
    • Plainfield
      (9 miles [14.5 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 Joliet. See our List of 1890's Communities around Joliet.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Joliet ...

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 86 newspapers that have been published in the area around Joliet.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Joliet. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Joliet and those printed in the larger area surrounding Joliet.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 8 miles [12.9 km]<3> of Joliet.

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 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 Joliet:

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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Joliet) 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 Joliet, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.