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

Lancaster is located in Peoria 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 Peoria County: Fulton, Knox, Marshall, Stark, Tazewell & Woodford.

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

  • Peoria County     (The home county of Lancaster)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster listed first.
    • Glasford
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Kingston Mines
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Mapleton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Hanna City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Trivoli
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Bartonville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Maxwell
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Maxwell is located in Peoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxwell
    • Bellevue
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Bellevue is located in Peoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellevue
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,037 people
    • Norwood
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Norwood is located in Peoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 447 people
    • Edwards
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Pottstown
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Pottstown is located in Peoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottstown
    • West Peoria
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Fulton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster listed first.
    • Breeds
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Breeds is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breeds
    • Banner
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Brereton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Brereton is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brereton
    • Canton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Norris
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Dunfermline
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Farmington
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint David
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Bryant
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Liverpool
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Fairview
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Bybee
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Bybee is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bybee
  • Knox County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster listed first.
    • Yates City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Maquon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Williamsfield
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Dahinda
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Gilson
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Appleton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Appleton is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleton
    • De Long
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • De Long is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Long
  • Logan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster listed first.
    • Emden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hartsburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • New Holland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Mason County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster listed first.
    • Manito
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Goofy Ridge
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Goofy Ridge is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goofy Ridge
    • Union
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Union is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
    • Forest City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Forest City is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 222 people
    • Buzzville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Buzzville is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buzzville
    • Topeka
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • San Jose
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Havana
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Poplar City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Natrona
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Natrona is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natrona
    • Easton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Teheran
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Teheran is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teheran
  • Stark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster listed first.
    • Speer
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • West Jersey
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • West Jersey is located in Stark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Jersey
  • Tazewell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster listed first.
    • Talbott
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Talbott is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talbott
    • Radville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Radville is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radville
    • Powerton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Powerton is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powerton
    • Stoehrs
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Stoehrs is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoehrs
    • Crescent
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Crescent is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent
    • Midway
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Midway is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
    • Parkland
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Parkland is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkland
    • Pekin
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Pekin is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pekin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 31,808 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pekin <1>
    • North Pekin
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • North Pekin is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Pekin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,530 people
      • Former name for North Pekin:
      • Radio City
    • Schaeferville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Schaeferville is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schaeferville
    • Hawley ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Hawley is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawley
    • South Pekin
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • South Pekin is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Pekin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,081 people
  • Woodford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster listed first.
    • Bay View Gardens
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Bay View Gardens is located in Woodford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay View Gardens
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 407 people
    • Germantown Hills
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Spring Bay
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Spring Bay is located in Woodford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Bay
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 456 people
    • Metamora
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Goodfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Eureka
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Lancaster ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lancaster.

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

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

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

  • Hinkle Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Lancaster Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Kingston Mines Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Union Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Kings Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Maple Ridge Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Penn Ridge Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Red School Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Utica Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Harker's Corner Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Smithville Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Brunswick Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (333 more) ...
    • Pleasant Grove Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Wolf Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Breeds Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)

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.<2>

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

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

  • Glasford
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Kingston Mines
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Breeds
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Breeds is located in Fulton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breeds
  • Banner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Smithville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Smithville is located in Peoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithville
  • Monterey
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Monterey is located in Fulton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monterey
  • Mapleton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Rawalts
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Rawalts is located in Fulton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawalts
  • Eden
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Eden is located in Peoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
  • Trivoli
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Stoehrs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Stoehrs is located in Tazewell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoehrs
  • Orchard Mines
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Orchard Mines is located in Peoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Mines
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Hollis
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Hollis is located in Peoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollis
    • Hanna City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Cramer
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Cramer is located in Peoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cramer

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

Newspapers Published in Lancaster ...

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 240 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lancaster.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lancaster, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lancaster.

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 Lancaster:

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>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 Lancaster, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Lancaster) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.