Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
So far, we found very little information about New Athens. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added New Athens to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with New Athens, please Contact Us.
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 New Athens (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 New Athens. 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 southeast 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 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.
Although our information shows that the community of New Athens is historic, it would have been located within present day Edgar 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 Edgar County: Champaign, Clark, Coles, Douglas, Vermilion, Vermillion (IN) & Vigo (IN).
Below are the counties that are near New Athens. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to New Athens:
- Edgar County (The home county of New Athens)
- The following are listed by their distance from New Athens, with the one closest to New Athens listed first.
- Borton
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Borton is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borton
- Redmon
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Brocton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Kansas
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Grandview
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Grandview is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
- Conlogue
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Conlogue is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conlogue
- Hume
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Metcalf
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Paris
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Bell Ridge
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Bell Ridge is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell Ridge
- Palermo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Palermo is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palermo
- Bloomfield
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Bloomfield is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomfield
- Chrisman
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Champaign County
- The following are listed by their distance from New Athens, with the one closest to New Athens listed first.
- Longview
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Broadlands
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Pesotum
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Homer
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Rutherford
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Rutherford is located in Champaign County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutherford
- Sidney
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Philo
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Tolono
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Sadorus
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Clark County
- The following are listed by their distance from New Athens, with the one closest to New Athens listed first.
- Westfield
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Cleone
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Cleone is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleone
- Clarksville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Clarksville is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksville
- Oilfield
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Oilfield is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oilfield
- Martinsville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Clark Center
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Clark Center is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clark Center
- Dennison
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Dennison is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennison
- Marshall
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Cumberland
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Cumberland is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland
- Livingston
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Livingston is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livingston
- Casey
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Farrington
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Farrington is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farrington
- Weaver
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Weaver is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weaver
- Coles County
- The following are listed by their distance from New Athens, with the one closest to New Athens listed first.
- Oakland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Saint Omer ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Saint Omer is located in Coles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Omer
- Ashmore
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Rardin
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Rardin is located in Coles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rardin
- Bushton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Bushton is located in Coles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushton
- Charleston
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hutton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Hutton is located in Coles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hutton
- Humboldt
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Dorans
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Dorans is located in Coles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorans
- Lerna
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Mattoon
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Cooks Mills
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Cooks Mills is located in Coles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks Mills
- Magnet
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Magnet is located in Coles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnet
- Cumberland County
- The following are listed by their distance from New Athens, with the one closest to New Athens listed first.
- Diona
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Diona is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diona
- Union Center
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Union Center is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Center
- Janesville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Timothy
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Timothy is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timothy
- Johnstown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Johnstown is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
- Bradbury
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Bradbury is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradbury
- Greenup
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Toledo
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Douglas County
- The following are listed by their distance from New Athens, with the one closest to New Athens listed first.
- Newman
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Hindsboro
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Murdock
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Kemp
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Kemp is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kemp
- Camargo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Filson
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Filson is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Filson
- Patterson Springs
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Patterson Springs is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patterson Springs
- Fairland
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Fairland is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairland
- Villa Grove
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Villa Grove is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa Grove
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,414 people
- Arcola
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Tuscola
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Hayes
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Hayes is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayes
- Chesterville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Chesterville is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chesterville
- Moultrie County
- The following are listed by their distance from New Athens, with the one closest to New Athens listed first.
- Coles
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Coles is located in Moultrie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coles
- Cadwell
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Cadwell is located in Moultrie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cadwell
- Piatt County
- Atwood
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Vermilion County
- The following are listed by their distance from New Athens, with the one closest to New Athens listed first.
- Allerton
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Archie
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Archie is located in Vermilion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archie
- Sidell
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Indianola
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Ridge Farm
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Vermilion Grove
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Vermilion Grove is located in Vermilion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vermilion Grove
- Olivet
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Olivet is located in Vermilion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivet
- Busenville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Busenville is located in Vermilion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Busenville
- Fairmount
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Georgetown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Parke County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from New Athens, with the one closest to New Athens listed first.
- Numa
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Numa is located in Parke County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Numa
- West Atherton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- West Atherton is located in Parke County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Atherton
- Vermillion County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from New Athens, with the one closest to New Athens listed first.
- Blanford
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Blanford is located in Vermillion County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanford
- Saint Bernice
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Saint Bernice is located in Vermillion County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Bernice
- Sandytown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Sandytown is located in Vermillion County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandytown
- Universal
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Universal is located in Vermillion County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Universal
- Population from the 2020 Census: 339 people
- Dana
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Dana is located in Vermillion County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dana
- Population from the 2020 Census: 564 people
- Clinton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Fairview Park
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Fairview Park is located in Vermillion County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,298 people
- Summit Grove
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Summit Grove is located in Vermillion County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Grove
- Vigo County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from New Athens, with the one closest to New Athens listed first.
- Libertyville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Libertyville is located in Vigo County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Libertyville
- Pine Ridge
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Pine Ridge is located in Vigo County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
- New Goshen
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Saint Mary-of-the-Woods
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Liggett
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Liggett is located in Vigo County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liggett
- Barnhart Town
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Barnhart Town is located in Vigo County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnhart Town
- Harrison
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Harrison is located in Vigo County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrison
- Shepardsville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Shepardsville is located in Vigo County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shepardsville
- Toad Hop
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Toad Hop is located in Vigo County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toad Hop
- West Terre Haute
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Spelterville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Spelterville is located in Vigo County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spelterville
- Taylorville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Taylorville is located in Vigo County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylorville
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to New Athens, see our County-by-County Page for New Athens.
Cemeteries Near New Athens ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of New Athens.
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 New Athens - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for New Athens covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from New Athens, with the one closest to New Athens listed first.
- Bell Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Zimmerman Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Shields Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Harmony Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Catfish Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Scott Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Catfish Point Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Embarrass Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Berry Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Fairview Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Rosedale Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Oak Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (367 more) ...
- Fairview Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Payne Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Gwinn Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
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.
While we didn't find New Athens in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of New Athens.
These communities are listed based on their distance from New Athens, with the one closest to New Athens listed first.
- Isabel
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Isabel is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabel
- Borton
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Borton is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borton
- Warrington
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Warrington is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrington
- Redmon
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Brocton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Oakland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Kansas
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Dudley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Dudley is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dudley
- Rardin
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Rardin is located in Coles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rardin
- Ashmore
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Grandview
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Grandview is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
- Mays
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Mays is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mays
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Garland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Garland is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland
- Conlogue
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Conlogue is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conlogue
- Melwood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Melwood is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melwood
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around New Athens. See our List of 1890's Communities around New Athens.
Newspapers Published in New Athens ...
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 71 newspapers that have been published in the area around New Athens.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of New Athens, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for New Athens.
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 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 New Athens:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Edgar County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Champaign County
- Clark County
- Coles County
- Cumberland County
- Douglas County
- Moultrie County
- Piatt County
- Vermilion County
- Parke County
- Vermillion County
- Vigo County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Illinois
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 New Athens, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- New Athens) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |