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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Long Creek (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 Long Creek. 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 Long Creek ...

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 have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Long Creek: Long Crk. (or less commonly used: Long Ck. or Long Cr.)

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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Long Creek is located in Macon County.

To see how the shape of Illinois' counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Macon County: Christian, De Witt, Logan, Moultrie, Piatt, Sangamon & Shelby.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Long Creek ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Long Creek.

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 Long Creek - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Pt. Pleasant Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pt. Pleasant Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pt. Pleasant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Florey Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Florey Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Florey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Zion Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Zion Presbyterian Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Zion Presbyterian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Zion Presbyterian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ridge Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • North Fork Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Fork Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Fork Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Johns Lutheran Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Spangler Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spangler Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spangler Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Gilead Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Gilead Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Gilead Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ritchie Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ritchie Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ritchie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wheeler Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wheeler Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wheeler Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Garver Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Garver Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Garver Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (271 more) ...
    • Cross Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cross Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cross Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Greenwood Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwood Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Union Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Long Creek had a population of 100 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Long Creek had a population of 1,262 people.

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

  • Mount Zion
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Zion have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Zion
    • Mount Zion is located in Macon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,762 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Zion <2>
  • Hervey City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hervey City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hervey City
    • Hervey City is located in Macon County
  • Casner
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Sangamon
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Turpin
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Turpin. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turpin
    • Turpin is located in Macon County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Turpin
    • From Long Creek to Turpin
  • Prairie Hall
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie Hall have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Hall
    • Prairie Hall is located in Macon County
  • Oakley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oakley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakley
    • Oakley is located in Macon County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oakley <2>
  • Dalton City
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • La Place
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Decatur
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Elwin
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elwin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elwin
    • Elwin is located in Macon County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elwin <2>
  • Lake City
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Cerro Gordo
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Oreana
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oreana have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oreana
      • Oreana is located in Macon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 804 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oreana <2>
    • Ullrich
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ullrich have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ullrich
      • Ullrich is located in Moultrie County

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

Newspapers Published in Long Creek ...

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 290 newspapers that have been published in the area around Long Creek.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Long Creek, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Long Creek.

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 Long Creek:

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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.
<5>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 Long Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Long Creek) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Long Creek. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.8096, Longitude: -88.8450