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 Prairie (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 Prairie. 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 doctors 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.
Prairie is located in Randolph 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 Randolph County: Jackson, Monroe, Perry, Saint Clair, Washington, Perry (MO) & Sainte Genevieve (MO).
Below are the counties that are near Prairie. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Prairie:
- Randolph County (The home county of Prairie)
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie, with the one closest to Prairie listed first.
- Red Bud
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Ruma
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Ruma is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruma
- Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
- Baldwin
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Evansville
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Preston
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Preston is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
- Walsh
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Walsh is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walsh
- Houston
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Houston is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston
- Modoc
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Modoc is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Modoc
- Prairie du Rocher
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Prairie du Rocher is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie du Rocher
- Population from the 2020 Census: 548 people
- Prairie du Rocher has also been known as:
- Prairie du Rocher village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prairie du Rocher <1>
- Ellis Grove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Sparta
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- New Palestine
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- New Palestine is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Palestine
- Blair
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Blair is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blair
- Clinton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie, with the one closest to Prairie listed first.
- New Memphis
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Damiansville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Damiansville is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damiansville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 484 people
- New Baden
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie, with the one closest to Prairie listed first.
- Campbell Hill
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Degognia
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Degognia is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Degognia
- Monroe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie, with the one closest to Prairie listed first.
- Hecker
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Renault
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Burksville Station
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Burksville Station is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burksville Station
- Burksville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Burksville is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burksville
- Fults
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Wartburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Wartburg is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wartburg
- Waterloo
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Maeystown
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Chalfin Bridge
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Chalfin Bridge is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalfin Bridge
- Madonnaville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Madonnaville is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madonnaville
- Foster Pond ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Foster Pond is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster Pond
- Monroe City
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Monroe City is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe City
- Valmeyer
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Perry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie, with the one closest to Prairie listed first.
- Cutler
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Willisville
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Winkle
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Winkle is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winkle
- Conant
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Conant is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conant
- Denmark
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Denmark is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denmark
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie, with the one closest to Prairie listed first.
- New Athens
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- New Athens is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Athens
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,865 people
- Lenzburg
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Marissa
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lementon
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Lementon is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lementon
- Smithton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Fayetteville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Fayetteville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayetteville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 336 people
- Freeburg
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Saint Libory
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Millstadt
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Belleville
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Mascoutah
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Gartside
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Gartside is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gartside
- Imbs
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Imbs is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Imbs
- Washington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie, with the one closest to Prairie listed first.
- Clarmin
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Clarmin is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarmin
- Caspars
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Caspars is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caspars
- Stone Church
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Stone Church is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone Church
- Elkton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Elkton is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkton
- Venedy
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Venedy is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Venedy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 130 people
- Oakdale
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Okawville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Addieville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Jefferson County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie, with the one closest to Prairie listed first.
- Crystal City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Festus
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Festus is located in Jefferson County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Festus
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,114 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Festus <1>
- Herculaneum
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Pevely
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Pevely is located in Jefferson County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pevely
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,001 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pevely <1>
- Kimmswick
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Horine
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Horine is located in Jefferson County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horine
- Barnhart
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Imperial
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Flucom
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Flucom is located in Jefferson County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flucom
- Flamm City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Flamm City is located in Jefferson County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flamm City
- Knorpp
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Knorpp is located in Jefferson County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knorpp
- Olympian Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Olympian Village is located in Jefferson County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olympian Village
- Population from the 2020 Census: 752 people
- Arnold
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Arnold is located in Jefferson County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
- Population from the 2020 Census: 21,145 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arnold <1>
- Perry County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie, with the one closest to Prairie listed first.
- Lithium
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Lithium is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lithium
- McBride
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- McBride is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McBride
- Sereno
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Sereno is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sereno
- Saint Francois County (MO)
- French Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Saint Louis County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie, with the one closest to Prairie listed first.
- Oakville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Oakville is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakville
- Ivory
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Ivory is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivory
- Mattese
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Mattese is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mattese
- Mehlville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Mehlville is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mehlville
- Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairie, with the one closest to Prairie listed first.
- Little Rock Landing ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Little Rock Landing is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rock Landing
- Sainte Genevieve
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Brickeys
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Brickeys is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brickeys
- Former names for Brickeys:
- Brickeys Gristmill
- Brickeys Landing
- Clement ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Clement is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clement
- Quarry Town
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Quarry Town is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quarry Town
- Quarry Town has also been known as:
- Quarrytown
- Marlo ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Marlo is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlo
- Needmore
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Needmore is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needmore
- Bloomsdale
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Zell
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Zell is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zell
- Saint Mary
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Ozora
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Ozora is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ozora
- Kinsey
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Kinsey is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinsey
- New Offenburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- New Offenburg is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Offenburg
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Prairie, see our County-by-County Page for Prairie.
Cemeteries Near Prairie ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Prairie.
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 Prairie - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Prairie covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Prairie, with the one closest to Prairie listed first.
- Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Ralls Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Nelson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- St. John Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Schmoll Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Brickey Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- St. Peter Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- St. Johns Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- St. Peters Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- St. Boniface Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Kelly Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- St. Johns Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Continue List (363 more) ...
- Baldwin Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Preston Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- St. Marcus 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.<3>
While we didn't find Prairie in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Prairie.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Prairie, with the one closest to Prairie listed first.
- Red Bud
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Ruma
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Ruma is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruma
- Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
- Evansville
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Baldwin
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Ames
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Ames is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ames
- Preston
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Preston is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
- Houston
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Houston is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston
- Modoc
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Modoc is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Modoc
- Hecker
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Prairie du Rocher
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Prairie du Rocher is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie du Rocher
- Population from the 2020 Census: 548 people
- Prairie du Rocher has also been known as:
- Prairie du Rocher village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prairie du Rocher <1>
- Lenzburg
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- New Athens
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- New Athens is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Athens
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,865 people
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Renault
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Ellis Grove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Marissa
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Prairie. See our List of 1890's Communities around Prairie.
Newspapers Published in Prairie ...
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 119 newspapers that have been published in the area around Prairie.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Prairie, 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 Prairie.
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 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 Prairie:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Randolph County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Clinton County
- Jackson County
- Monroe County
- Perry County
- Saint Clair County
- Washington County
- Jefferson County
- Perry County
- Saint Francois County
- Saint Louis County
- Sainte Genevieve 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 Prairie, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Prairie) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |