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 Richardson (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 Richardson. 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 northwest 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 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 west 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.
Richardson is located in Kane 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 Kane County: Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Kendall, McHenry & Will.
Below are the counties that are near Richardson. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Richardson:
- Kane County (The home county of Richardson)
- The following are listed by their distance from Richardson, with the one closest to Richardson listed first.
- Virgil
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Maple Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Lily Lake
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Lily Lake is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lily Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,019 people
- Burlington
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Elburn
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- North Plato
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- North Plato is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Plato
- Bowes Bend
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Bowes Bend is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowes Bend
- Campton Hills
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Campton Hills is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campton Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11,063 people
- Campton Hills has also been known as:
- Campton Hills village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Campton Hills <1>
- Wasco
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Plato Center
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Kaneville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Starks
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Starks is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starks
- Bonnie
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Bonnie is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonnie
- Bonnie has also been known as:
- Bonnie Valley
- Boone County
- The following are listed by their distance from Richardson, with the one closest to Richardson listed first.
- Herbert
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Herbert is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herbert
- Garden Prairie
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Irene
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Irene is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irene
- Belvidere
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Russellville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Russellville is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russellville
- Timberlane
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Timberlane is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timberlane
- Population from the 2020 Census: 934 people
- Capron
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Poplar Grove
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Cook County
- The following are listed by their distance from Richardson, with the one closest to Richardson listed first.
- Streamwood
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Hanover Park
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Barrington Hills
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Barrington Hills is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,152 people
- Hoffman Estates
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- South Barrington
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- South Barrington is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Barrington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,976 people
- Schaumburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Barrington
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Inverness
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Fairfax Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Fairfax Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax Village
- Palatine
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Plum Grove Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Plum Grove Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Grove Village
- Rolling Meadows
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Winthrop Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Winthrop Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winthrop Village
- DeKalb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Richardson, with the one closest to Richardson listed first.
- Cortland
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Sycamore
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Sycamore is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 18,317 people
- Charter Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Charter Grove is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charter Grove
- Coltonville ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Coltonville is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coltonville
- De Kalb
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- New Lebanon
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- New Lebanon is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lebanon
- Brush Point ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Brush Point is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Point
- Genoa
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Kingston
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Elva
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Elva is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elva
- Clare
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Hinckley
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Malta
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- DuPage County
- The following are listed by their distance from Richardson, with the one closest to Richardson listed first.
- Wayne
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- West Chicago
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- West Chicago is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chicago
- Population from the 2020 Census: 26,593 people
- Bartlett
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Ingalton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Ingalton is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingalton
- Eola
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Warrenville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Carol Stream
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Keeneyville
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Keeneyville is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keeneyville
- Winfield
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Cloverdale
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Cloverdale is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Bloomingdale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Roselle
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Wheaton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Kendall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Richardson, with the one closest to Richardson listed first.
- Little Rock
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Little Rock is located in Kendall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rock
- Plano
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Montgomery
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Boulder Hill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Boulder Hill is located in Kendall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder Hill
- Bristol
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Yorkville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Oswego
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Millbrook
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Newark
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- La Salle County
- The following are listed by their distance from Richardson, with the one closest to Richardson listed first.
- Leland
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Millington
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Baker
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Baker is located in La Salle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baker
- Sheridan
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Lake County
- The following are listed by their distance from Richardson, with the one closest to Richardson listed first.
- Fox River Valley Gardens
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Barrington
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Barrington is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Barrington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,840 people
- Port Barrington
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Port Barrington is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Barrington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,481 people
- Port Barrington has also been known as:
- Port Barrington village
- North Barrington
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- North Barrington is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Barrington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,938 people
- Tower Lakes
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Tower Lakes is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Lakes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,219 people
- Deer Park
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Zurich
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Wauconda
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Lee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Richardson, with the one closest to Richardson listed first.
- Lee
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Steward
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- East Paw Paw
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- East Paw Paw is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Paw Paw
- Paw Paw
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Radley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Radley is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radley
- McHenry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Richardson, with the one closest to Richardson listed first.
- Huntley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Union
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Marengo
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Algonquin
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lake-in-the-Hills
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lakewood
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Crystal Lake
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Ridgefield
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Ridgefield is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgefield
- Trout Valley
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Trout Valley is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trout Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 508 people
- Cary
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Fox River Grove
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Woodstock
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Bull Valley
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Bull Valley is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,078 people
- Ogle County
- The following are listed by their distance from Richardson, with the one closest to Richardson listed first.
- Creston
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Monroe Center
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Lindenwood
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Hillcrest
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Hillcrest is located in Ogle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,216 people
- Rochelle
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Davis Junction
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Flagg Center
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Flagg Center is located in Ogle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flagg Center
- Holcomb
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Flagg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Flagg is located in Ogle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flagg
- Will County
- The following are listed by their distance from Richardson, with the one closest to Richardson listed first.
- Normantown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Normantown is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normantown
- Plainfield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Walker
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Walker is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walker
- Winnebago County
- The following are listed by their distance from Richardson, with the one closest to Richardson listed first.
- Cherry Valley
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- New Millford
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- New Millford is located in Winnebago County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Millford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 851 people
- North Park
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- North Park is located in Winnebago County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Park
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Richardson, see our County-by-County Page for Richardson.
Cemeteries Near Richardson ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Richardson.
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 Richardson - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Richardson covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Richardson, with the one closest to Richardson listed first.
- South Burlington Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Barron Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Thatcher Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- St.s Peter & Paul's Catholic Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Ward Family Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Ohio Grove Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Gardner Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- New Hampshire Settlement Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Lily Lake Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- L R Baker Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Continue List (295 more) ...
- Union Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Elmwood Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Mound Rest Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
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 in 1895, Richardson had a post office and railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Richardson, with the one closest to Richardson listed first.
- Maple Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Cortland
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Lily Lake
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Lily Lake is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lily Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,019 people
- Sycamore
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Sycamore is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 18,317 people
- Burlington
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Charter Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Charter Grove is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charter Grove
- Elburn
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- De Kalb
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- North Plato
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- North Plato is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Plato
- Kaneville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Wasco
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Plato Center
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (21 more) ...
- New Lebanon
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- New Lebanon is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lebanon
- Genoa
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Udina
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Udina is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Udina
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Richardson. See our List of 1890's Communities around Richardson.
Newspapers Published in Richardson ...
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 53 newspapers that have been published in the area around Richardson.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Richardson, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Richardson.
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 helpful 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 Richardson:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Kane County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Boone County
- Cook County
- DeKalb County
- DuPage County
- Kendall County
- La Salle County
- Lake County
- Lee County
- McHenry County
- Ogle County
- Will County
- Winnebago 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 Richardson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Richardson) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |