RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> McHenry County >> Ridgefield >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Ridgefield (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 Ridgefield. 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 and 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.

Ridgefield is located in McHenry 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 McHenry County: Boone, Cook, DeKalb, Kane, Lake, Kenosha (WI) & Walworth (WI).

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

  • McHenry County     (The home county of Ridgefield)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridgefield, with the one closest to Ridgefield listed first.
    • Bull Valley
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Bull Valley is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,078 people
    • Crystal Lake
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Terra Cotta
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Lakewood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Prairie Grove
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Prairie Grove is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,920 people
    • Barreville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • McHenry
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Woodstock
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Oakwood Hills
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Oakwood Hills is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,011 people
    • Cary
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Cary is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cary
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,929 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cary <1>
    • Lake-in-the-Hills
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Holiday Hills
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Holiday Hills is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 574 people
    • Algonquin
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Boone County
  • Cook County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridgefield, with the one closest to Ridgefield listed first.
    • Barrington Hills
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Barrington Hills is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,152 people
    • Barrington
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Inverness
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • South Barrington
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • South Barrington is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Barrington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,976 people
    • Hoffman Estates
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Capri Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Capri Village is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capri Village
    • Streamwood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Palatine
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Plum Grove Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Plum Grove Village is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Grove Village
    • Winthrop Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Winthrop Village is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winthrop Village
    • Fairfax Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Fairfax Village is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax Village
    • Hanover Park
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rolling Meadows
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • DeKalb County
  • DuPage County
  • Kane County
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridgefield, with the one closest to Ridgefield listed first.
    • Fox River Valley Gardens
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Port Barrington
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • 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
    • Lake Barrington
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Lake Barrington is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Barrington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,840 people
    • Tower Lakes
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Tower Lakes is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Lakes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,219 people
    • Wauconda
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Volo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • North Barrington
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • North Barrington is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Barrington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,938 people
    • Fort Hill
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Ingleside
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Long Lake
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Long Lake is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake
    • Fremont Center
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Lake Zurich
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Fox Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Winnebago County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridgefield, with the one closest to Ridgefield listed first.
    • Argyle
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Argyle is located in Winnebago County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
    • Cherry Valley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Kenosha County (WI)
  • Racine County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridgefield, with the one closest to Ridgefield listed first.
    • Bohners Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Bohners Lake is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bohners Lake
    • Burlington
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Burlington is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,898 people
    • Browns Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Browns Lake is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Lake
  • Walworth County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridgefield, with the one closest to Ridgefield listed first.
    • Genoa City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Genoa City is located in Walworth County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genoa City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,981 people
    • Zenda
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Pell Lake
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Pell Lake is located in Walworth County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pell Lake
    • Big Foot Prairie
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Fontana-on-Geneva Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Fontana-on-Geneva Lake is located in Walworth County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fontana-on-Geneva Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,743 people
    • Walworth
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Walworth is located in Walworth County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walworth
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,827 people
    • Lake Geneva
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Lake Como
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Williams Bay
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Como
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Lake Como Beach ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Sharon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Sharon is located in Walworth County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,546 people
    • Delavan Lake
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Delavan Lake is located in Walworth County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delavan Lake

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

Cemeteries Near Ridgefield ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ridgefield.

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

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

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

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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Ridgefield had a population of 107 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Ridgefield ...

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 120 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ridgefield.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ridgefield, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ridgefield.

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 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 Ridgefield:

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>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- Ridgefield) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Ridgefield, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.