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 Pottsville (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 Pottsville. 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.
Pottsville is located in Union 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 Union County: Alexander, Jackson, Johnson, Pulaski, Williamson, Cape Girardeau (MO) & Perry (MO).
Below are the counties that are near Pottsville. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Pottsville:
- Union County (The home county of Pottsville)
- The following are listed by their distance from Pottsville, with the one closest to Pottsville listed first.
- Dutch Mills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Dutch Mills is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutch Mills
- Reynoldsville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Reynoldsville is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynoldsville
- Jonesboro
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Anna
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Wolf Lake
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Mill Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Mill Creek is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Creek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
- Cobden
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Alto Pass
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Dongola
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Water Valley
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Water Valley is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Water Valley
- Mount Pleasant
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Mount Pleasant is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Lick Creek
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lick Creek is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lick Creek
- Alexander County
- The following are listed by their distance from Pottsville, with the one closest to Pottsville listed first.
- McClure
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Elco
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- East Cape Girardeau
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- East Cape Girardeau is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cape Girardeau
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
- Diswood
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Diswood is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diswood
- Tamms
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Thebes
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Thebes is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thebes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
- Olive Branch
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Hodges Park
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Hodges Park is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodges Park
- Unity
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Miller City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Cache
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Frog City ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Frog City is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frog City
- Cairo Junction
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Cairo Junction is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo Junction
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Pottsville, with the one closest to Pottsville listed first.
- Pomona
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Makanda
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Grand Tower
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Gorham
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Carbondale
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Murphysboro
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Jacob
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- De Soto
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Oraville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Johnson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Pottsville, with the one closest to Pottsville listed first.
- Cypress
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Buncombe
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Belknap
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Goreville
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Bender ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Bender is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bender
- Vienna
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Deer Ridge
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Deer Ridge is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Ridge
- Eagle Point Bay
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Eagle Point Bay is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Point Bay
- Egyptian Hills
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Egyptian Hills is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egyptian Hills
- Pulaski County
- The following are listed by their distance from Pottsville, with the one closest to Pottsville listed first.
- Ullin
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Pulaski
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Perks
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Villa Ridge
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Villa Ridge is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa Ridge
- Grand Chain
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- New Grand Chain
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- New Grand Chain is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Grand Chain
- Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
- Karnak
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Mounds
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Mounds is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mounds
- Population from the 2020 Census: 666 people
- Olmsted
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Mound City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Williamson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Pottsville, with the one closest to Pottsville listed first.
- Carterville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Crainville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Crainville is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crainville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,419 people
- Lake Crest
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Crest is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Crest
- Cambria
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Blairsville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Blairsville is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blairsville
- Dewmaine
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Dewmaine is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewmaine
- Hurst
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Colp
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Colp is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colp
- Population from the 2020 Census: 208 people
- Former name for Colp:
- Colpville
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colp <1>
- Energy
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Ballard County (KY)
- The following are listed by their distance from Pottsville, with the one closest to Pottsville listed first.
- Bandana
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bandana is located in Ballard County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bandana
- Barlow
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Barlow is located in Ballard County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barlow
- Population from the 2020 Census: 628 people
- Bollinger County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Pottsville, with the one closest to Pottsville listed first.
- Laflin
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Laflin is located in Bollinger County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laflin
- Sedgewickville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Sedgewickville is located in Bollinger County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sedgewickville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 167 people
- Seopus
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Seopus is located in Bollinger County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seopus
- Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Pottsville, with the one closest to Pottsville listed first.
- Leemon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Leemon is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leemon
- Cape Girardeau
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Jackson
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Jackson is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,699 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jackson <1>
- Pocahontas
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Shawneetown
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Shawneetown is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawneetown
- Gordonville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Dutchtown
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Dutchtown is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutchtown
- Estimated population in 2018: 94 people
- Oak Ridge
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Old Appleton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Old Appleton is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Appleton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
- Burfordville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Daisy
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Daisy is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisy
- Millersville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Allenville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Allenville is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allenville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 118 people
- Perry County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Pottsville, with the one closest to Pottsville listed first.
- Altenburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Frohna
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Frohna is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frohna
- Population from the 2020 Census: 241 people
- Brazeau
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Brazeau is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brazeau
- Uniontown
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Uniontown is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uniontown
- Farrar
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Farrar is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farrar
- Eureka
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Eureka is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
- Longtown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Longtown is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longtown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
- Biehle
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Biehle is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biehle
- Scott County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Pottsville, with the one closest to Pottsville listed first.
- Scott City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Commerce
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Kelso
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Chaffee
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- New Hamburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- New Hamburg is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hamburg
- Benton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Lambert
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Lambert is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lambert
- Population from the 2010 Census: 34 people
- Caney Creek
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Caney Creek is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney Creek
- Oran
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Oran is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oran
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,211 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oran <1>
- Morley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Morley is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 682 people
- Blodgett
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Blodgett is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blodgett
- Population from the 2020 Census: 203 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Pottsville, see our County-by-County Page for Pottsville.
Cemeteries Near Pottsville ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pottsville.
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 Pottsville - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Pottsville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Pottsville, with the one closest to Pottsville listed first.
- Rallo Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Kollehner Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Grieb Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Kimmel Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Kimmel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Anna City Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Lindsay Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Cummins Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Mission Chapel Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Lange Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Zierath Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Phillips Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Continue List (414 more) ...
- Union Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Mt. Tabor Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Iona Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 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.<3>
While we didn't find Pottsville in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Pottsville.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Pottsville, with the one closest to Pottsville listed first.
- Ware
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Ware is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ware
- Egypt Mills
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Egypt Mills is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt Mills
- Springville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Springville is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springville
- Jonesboro
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Anna
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mill Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Mill Creek is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Creek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
- McClure
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Balcom
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Balcom is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Balcom
- Mountain Glen
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Mountain Glen is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Glen
- Elco
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cobden
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Neelys Landing
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Neelys Landing is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neelys Landing
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Oriole
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Oriole is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oriole
- Alto Pass
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- East Cape Girardeau
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- East Cape Girardeau is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cape Girardeau
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Pottsville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Pottsville.
Newspapers Published in Pottsville ...
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 63 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pottsville.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pottsville, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Pottsville.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Pottsville:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Union County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Alexander County
- Jackson County
- Johnson County
- Pulaski County
- Williamson County
- Ballard County
- Bollinger County
- Cape Girardeau County
- Perry County
- Scott County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Illinois
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 Pottsville, 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- Pottsville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |