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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 Villa (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 Villa. 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 Lake Villa ...

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 Lake Villa: Lk. Villa

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and 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.

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

  • Lake County     (The home county of Lake Villa)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Villa, with the one closest to Lake Villa listed first.
    • Venetian Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Venetian Village is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Venetian Village
    • Lindenhurst
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • 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>
    • Round Lake Beach
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Monaville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Round Lake Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Fox Lake Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Fox Lake Hills is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Lake Hills
    • Millburn
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Antioch
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Grandwood Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Grandwood Park is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandwood Park
    • Hainesville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Ingleside
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Long Lake
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Long Lake is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake
  • Cook County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Villa, with the one closest to Lake Villa listed first.
    • Barrington
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Capri Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Capri Village is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capri Village
    • Barrington Hills
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Barrington Hills is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,152 people
    • Inverness
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Palatine
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Wheeling
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Plum Grove Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Plum Grove Village is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Grove Village
    • Prospect Heights
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Winthrop Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Winthrop Village is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winthrop Village
    • Arlington Heights
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Fairfax Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Fairfax Village is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax Village
    • Covenant Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Covenant Village is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covenant Village
  • DuPage County
  • Kane County
  • McHenry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Villa, with the one closest to Lake Villa listed first.
    • Pistakee Highlands
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Pistakee Highlands is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pistakee Highlands
    • Sunnyside
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Sunnyside is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
    • Lakemoor
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Johnsburg
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Spring Grove
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Solon Mills
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Holiday Hills
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Holiday Hills is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 574 people
    • 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
    • McCullom Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 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
    • Ringwood
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • McHenry
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Richmond
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Kenosha County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Villa, with the one closest to Lake Villa listed first.
    • Benet Lake
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Lake Shangrila
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Fossland
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Camp Lake
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Camp Lake is located in Kenosha County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Lake
    • Bristol
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Salem Lakes
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Paddock Lake
      (10 miles [16.1 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
    • Woodworth
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Fox River
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Twin Lakes
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Pleasant Prairie
      (12 miles [19.3 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
    • Powers Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Powers Lake is located in Kenosha County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powers Lake
  • Milwaukee County (WI)
  • Racine County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Villa, with the one closest to Lake Villa listed first.
    • Bohners Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Bohners Lake is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bohners Lake
    • Union Grove
      (18 miles [29 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
    • Eagle Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Eagle Lake is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Lake
    • Browns Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Browns Lake is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Lake
    • Burlington
      (20 miles [32.2 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
    • Sturtevant
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Yorkville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Yorkville is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkville
    • Elmwood Park
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Mount Pleasant
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,048 people
    • Rochester
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Waterford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Waterford is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,618 people
    • Franksville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Franksville is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franksville
  • Walworth County (WI)

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

Cemeteries Near Lake Villa ...

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

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Lake Villa, with the one closest to Lake Villa 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Lake Villa had a population of 92 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Lake Villa had a population of 8,525 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Lake Villa ...

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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lake Villa.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Lake Villa. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Lake Villa and those printed in the larger area surrounding Lake Villa.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<4> of Lake Villa.

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 Lake Villa:

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 Villa, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Lake Villa) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.