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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 Lake of the Woods (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 Lake of the Woods. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Lake of the Woods 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 Lake of the Woods. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Lake of the Woods:

  • Will County     (The home county of Lake of the Woods)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake of the Woods, with the one closest to Lake of the Woods listed first.
    • Shorewood
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Rockdale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Rockdale is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,884 people
    • Summerfield
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Summerfield is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerfield
    • Joliet
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Preston Heights
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Preston Heights is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston Heights
    • Crystal Lawns
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Crystal Lawns is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lawns
    • Crest Hill
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Blodgett
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Blodgett is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blodgett
    • Elwood
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • East Joliet
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • East Joliet is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Joliet
    • Ingalls Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Ingalls Park is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingalls Park
    • Walker
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Walker is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walker
    • Fairmont
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Fairmont is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmont
  • Cook County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake of the Woods, with the one closest to Lake of the Woods listed first.
    • Lemont
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Orland Hills
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Orland Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Tinley Park
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Palos Park
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Matteson
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Burr Ridge
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Willow Springs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Oak Forest
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Palos Heights
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Palos Hills
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Country Club Hills
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Hickory Hills
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
  • DeKalb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake of the Woods, with the one closest to Lake of the Woods listed first.
    • Sandwich
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Somonauk
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Franks
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Franks is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franks
    • Hinckley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • DuPage County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake of the Woods, with the one closest to Lake of the Woods listed first.
    • Tedens ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Tedens is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tedens
    • Eola
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Naperville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Woodridge
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Darien
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lisle
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Lisle is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisle
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23,153 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lisle <1>
    • Warrenville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Willowbrook
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Clarendon Hills
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Downers Grove
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Westmont
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Hinsdale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • West Chicago
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • West Chicago is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chicago
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26,593 people
  • Grundy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake of the Woods, with the one closest to Lake of the Woods listed first.
    • Minooka
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Channahon
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Sand Ridge
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Sand Ridge is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Ridge
    • Claypool
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Claypool is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claypool
    • Gaslight Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Gaslight Village is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaslight Village
    • Morris
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Carbon Hill
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Carbon Hill is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon Hill
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 334 people
    • Coal City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Diamond
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Centerville ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Centerville is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
    • Central City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Central City is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central City
    • Braceville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Nettle Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Nettle Creek is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nettle Creek
  • Kane County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake of the Woods, with the one closest to Lake of the Woods listed first.
    • Aurora
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Sugar Grove
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Mooseheart
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • North Aurora
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • North Aurora is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Aurora
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,144 people
    • Batavia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Big Rock
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Geneva
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Kaneville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Charles
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Kankakee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake of the Woods, with the one closest to Lake of the Woods listed first.
    • Essex
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Bonfield
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Manteno
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Union Hill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Goodrich
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Goodrich is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodrich
    • Reddick
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Bourbonnais
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Bradley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Limestone
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Limestone is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limestone
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,498 people
    • Buckingham
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Herscher
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Saint George
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Saint George is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint George
  • Kendall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake of the Woods, with the one closest to Lake of the Woods listed first.
    • Plattville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Plattville is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plattville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
    • Lisbon
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Lisbon is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisbon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 310 people
    • Oswego
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Boulder Hill
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Boulder Hill is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder Hill
    • Bristol
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Montgomery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Yorkville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Millbrook
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Newark
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Plano
      (20 miles [32.2 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>
    • Little Rock
      (24 miles [38.6 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 Lake of the Woods, with the one closest to Lake of the Woods listed first.
    • Millington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Stavanger
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Stavanger is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stavanger
    • Seneca
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Seneca is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seneca
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,217 people
      • Seneca has also been known as:
      • Crotty
      • Seneca village
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seneca <1>
    • Sheridan
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Serena
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Marseilles
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Blakes
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Blakes is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blakes
    • Wedron
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Livingston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake of the Woods, with the one closest to Lake of the Woods listed first.
    • Dwight
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Dwight is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dwight
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,984 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dwight <1>
    • Cardiff
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Cardiff is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardiff

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

Cemeteries Near Lake of the Woods ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lake of the Woods.

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 Lake of the Woods - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Woodlawn Memorial Park #1
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Willard Grove Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willard Grove Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Willard Grove Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside of Channahon
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #108868 <2>
  • County Farm Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Woodlawn Memorial Park #2
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Hills of Rest Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Chapman Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Troutman Grove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Dresden Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • McCune Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCune Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the McCune Cemetery is located outside and to the west of Elwood.
    • The McCune Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Asparagus Road Cemetery
    • Jackson Creek Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2437050 <2>
  • Zarley Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zarley Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Zarley Cemetery is located in Joliet.
    • The Zarley Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Desplaines Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1269046 <2>
  • Continue List   (354 more) ...
    • St. Patricks Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • St. John the Baptist Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • 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>
    • Mt. Moriah Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)

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 Lake of the Woods in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Lake of the Woods.

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

  • Minooka
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Millsdale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Millsdale is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millsdale
  • Channahon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Caton Farm
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Caton Farm is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caton Farm
  • Drummond
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Drummond is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drummond
  • Joliet
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Coynes
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Coynes is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coynes
  • Sand Ridge
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Sand Ridge is located in Grundy County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Ridge
  • Blodgett
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Blodgett is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blodgett
  • Elwood
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Divine
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Divine is located in Grundy County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Divine
  • East Joliet
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • East Joliet is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Joliet
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Walker
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Walker is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walker
    • Lorenzo
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Lorenzo is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lorenzo
    • Plainfield
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Lake of the Woods ...

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 94 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lake of the Woods.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lake of the Woods, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lake of the Woods.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Lake of the Woods:

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 Lake of the Woods, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Lake of the Woods) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.