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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 Pontiac (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 Pontiac. 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 Pontiac ...

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.

In past government published Postal Guides, Pontiac was referred to as Pontiac Courthouse.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Pontiac. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Pontiac.

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.

For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.

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 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.

Pontiac is located in Livingston County and is the County Seat.

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 Livingston County: Ford, Grundy, Kankakee, La Salle, McLean & Woodford.

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

  • Livingston County     (The home county of Pontiac)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pontiac, with the one closest to Pontiac listed first.
    • Cayuga
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Cayuga is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cayuga
    • McDowell
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • McDowell is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDowell
    • Swygert
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Swygert is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swygert
    • Graymont
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Cornell
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Avoca ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Avoca is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
    • Eylar
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Eylar is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eylar
    • Odell
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Odell is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 957 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Odell <1>
    • Fairbury
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Flanagan
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Saunemin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Wing
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Wing is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wing
    • Blackstone
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Ford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pontiac, with the one closest to Pontiac listed first.
    • Kempton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Cabery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Sibley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Piper City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Garber
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Garber is located in Ford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garber
    • Melvin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Roberts
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Grundy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pontiac, with the one closest to Pontiac listed first.
    • Kinsman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Highland Town ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Highland Town is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Town
    • Verona
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Wauponsee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Wauponsee is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wauponsee
    • East Brooklyn
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • East Brooklyn is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Brooklyn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 104 people
    • Gardner
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Mazon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • South Wilmington
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • South Wilmington is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Wilmington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 637 people
    • Clarke City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Clarke City is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarke City
    • Braceville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Central City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Central City is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central City
  • Iroquois County
    • La Hogue
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • La Hogue is located in Iroquois County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Hogue
  • Kankakee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pontiac, with the one closest to Pontiac listed first.
    • Reddick
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Buckingham
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Herscher
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Union Hill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • La Salle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pontiac, with the one closest to Pontiac listed first.
    • Dana
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Dana is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dana
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dana <1>
    • Kernan
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Kernan is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kernan
    • Ransom
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Streator
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Leeds
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Leeds is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leeds
    • Kangley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Kangley is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kangley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
    • Rutland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Grand Ridge
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Marseilles
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Leonore
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Seneca
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Seneca is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seneca
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,217 people
      • Seneca has also been known as:
      • Crotty
      • Seneca village
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seneca <1>
    • Lostant
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Lostant is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lostant
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 477 people
      • Lostant has also been known as:
      • Lost Ant
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lostant <1>
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pontiac, with the one closest to Pontiac listed first.
    • Wenona
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Evans ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Evans is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans
    • Toluca
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • McLean County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pontiac, with the one closest to Pontiac listed first.
    • Weston
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Weston is located in McLean County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston
    • Chenoa
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Meadows
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Meadows is located in McLean County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadows
    • Gridley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Lexington
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Cropsey
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Anchor
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Colfax
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Cooksville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Hudson
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Towanda
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Merna
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Arrowsmith
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Woodford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pontiac, with the one closest to Pontiac listed first.
    • Minonk
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Panola
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Panola is located in Woodford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panola
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 51 people
    • Woodford
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Woodford is located in Woodford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodford
    • El Paso
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Kappa
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Kappa is located in Woodford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kappa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 247 people
    • Benson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Secor
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Roanoke
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Pontiac ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pontiac.

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

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

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

  • Pontiac City Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pontiac City Cemetery
    • The Pontiac City Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Pontiac Southside Cemetery
    • South Side Cemetery
    • Southside Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #288460 <2>
  • St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Houder Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Rowe Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • McMillan Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Rook's Creek Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Patty Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Swygert Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Corbins Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Walden Farm Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Johnson Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (187 more) ...
    • Camp Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Cornell Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Zooks Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Pontiac had a population of 2,784 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Pontiac had a population of 11,176 people.

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

  • Rowe
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Rowe is located in Livingston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowe
  • Rooks Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Rooks Creek is located in Livingston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rooks Creek
  • McDowell
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • McDowell is located in Livingston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDowell
  • Cayuga
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Cayuga is located in Livingston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cayuga
  • Ocoya
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Ocoya is located in Livingston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocoya
  • Lodemia
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Lodemia is located in Livingston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodemia
  • Swygert
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Swygert is located in Livingston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swygert
  • Graymont
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Rugby
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Rugby is located in Livingston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rugby
  • Cornell
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Weston
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Weston is located in McLean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston
  • Chenoa
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...
    • Eylar
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Eylar is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eylar
    • Odell
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Odell is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 957 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Odell <1>
    • Fairbury
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Pontiac ...

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 188 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pontiac.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Pontiac. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Pontiac and those printed in the larger area surrounding Pontiac.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Pontiac.

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 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 Pontiac:

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 Pontiac, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Pontiac) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.