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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 Palos Hills (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 Palos Hills. 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.

Palos Hills is located in Cook 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 Cook County: DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, Lake (IN) & Berrien (MI).

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

  • Cook County     (The home county of Palos Hills)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Palos Hills, with the one closest to Palos Hills listed first.
    • Worth
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Hickory Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Chicago Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Palos Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Palos Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Oak Lawn
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Bridgeview
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Justice
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Willow Springs
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Burbank
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Alsip
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Bedford Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • DuPage County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Palos Hills, with the one closest to Palos Hills listed first.
    • Willowbrook
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Tedens ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Tedens is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tedens
    • Hinsdale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Darien
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Clarendon Hills
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Westmont
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Brook
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Woodridge
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Downers Grove
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Brook Terrace
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Oak Brook Terrace is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Brook Terrace
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,094 people
    • Utopia
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Utopia is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utopia
    • South Elmhurst
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • South Elmhurst is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elmhurst
  • Grundy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Palos Hills, with the one closest to Palos Hills listed first.
    • Minooka
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Channahon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Kane County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Palos Hills, with the one closest to Palos Hills listed first.
    • Aurora
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Batavia
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Mooseheart
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • North Aurora
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • North Aurora is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Aurora
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,144 people
    • Geneva
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Charles
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Kankakee County
    • Manteno
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Kendall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Palos Hills, with the one closest to Palos Hills listed first.
    • Boulder Hill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Boulder Hill is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder Hill
    • Montgomery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Oswego
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Will County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Palos Hills, with the one closest to Palos Hills listed first.
    • Goodings Grove
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Goodings Grove is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodings Grove
    • Homer Glen
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Homer Glen is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer Glen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,281 people
      • Homer Glen has also been known as:
      • Homer Glen village
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Homer Glen <1>
    • Colonial Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Colonial Village is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
    • Frankfort Square
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Frankfort Square is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankfort Square
    • Mokena
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Bolingbrook
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Winston Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Winston Village is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston Village
    • Frankfort
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Gilletts ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Gilletts is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilletts
    • Lockport
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Bloomfield Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Bloomfield Village is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomfield Village
    • New Lenox
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Lake County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Palos Hills, with the one closest to Palos Hills listed first.
    • Whiting
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Hammond
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Hammond is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammond
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 75,342 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hammond <1>
    • East Chicago
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Munster
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Munster is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munster
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 22,483 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Munster <1>
    • Hessville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Hessville is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hessville
    • Dyer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Dyer is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,955 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dyer <1>
    • Highland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hartsdale
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Hartsdale is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartsdale
    • Griffith
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Schererville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Gary
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Gary is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 74,693 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gary <1>
    • New Elliott
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • New Elliott is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Elliott

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

Cemeteries Near Palos Hills ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Palos Hills.

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 Palos Hills - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Archer Woods Memorial Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Lithuanian National Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Alsip.
    • The Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Holy Sepulchre Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #106228 <2>
  • Chapel Hills Gardens South
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Resurrection Catholic Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Resurrection Catholic Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Resurrection Catholic Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Justice.
    • The Resurrection Catholic Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Resurrection Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #107652 <2>
  • Ressurection Catholic Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Fairmount Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Bethania Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Restvale Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Restvale Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Restvale Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Alsip.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #107649 <2>
  • Hazel Green Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (389 more) ...
    • Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Christ Lutheran Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Bachelor Grove Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)

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

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

  • Worth
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Oak Lawn
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Willow Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Goeselville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Goeselville is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goeselville
  • Sag Bridge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Sag Bridge is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sag Bridge
  • Mount Greenwood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Mount Greenwood is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Greenwood
  • Evergreen Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Summit
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Goodings Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Goodings Grove is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodings Grove
  • La Grange
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Blue Island
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Blue Island is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Island
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 22,616 people
  • Lyons
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (21 more) ...
    • Tedens ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Tedens is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tedens
    • Alpine
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Alpine is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
    • Western Springs
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Palos Hills ...

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 66 newspapers that have been published in the area around Palos Hills.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Palos Hills, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Palos Hills.

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 Palos Hills:

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 Palos Hills, 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' (or 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- Palos Hills) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.