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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 River Forest (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 River Forest. 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 River Forest ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for River Forest: River Frst.

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

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.

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 and hospitals 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.

River Forest is located in Cook 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 Cook County: DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, Lake (IN) & Berrien (MI).

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

  • Cook County     (The home county of River Forest)
    • The following are listed by their distance from River Forest, with the one closest to River Forest listed first.
    • Oak Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Forest Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Maywood
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Melrose Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Elmwood Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • River Grove
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Hines
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Dunning
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Dunning is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunning
    • Cragin
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Cragin is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cragin
    • Berwyn
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Berwyn is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berwyn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 53,701 people
    • Broadview
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Bellwood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Bellwood is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,436 people
      • Bellwood has also been known as:
      • Bellwood village
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bellwood <1>
  • DuPage County
    • The following are listed by their distance from River Forest, with the one closest to River Forest listed first.
    • Elmhurst
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • South Elmhurst
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • South Elmhurst is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elmhurst
    • Bensenville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Brook
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Hinsdale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Oak Brook Terrace
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Oak Brook Terrace is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Brook Terrace
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,094 people
    • Utopia
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Utopia is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utopia
    • Villa Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Villa Park is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa Park
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,291 people
    • Wood Dale
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Clarendon Hills
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • York Center
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • York Center is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York Center
    • Addison
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Kane County
    • The following are listed by their distance from River Forest, with the one closest to River Forest listed first.
    • Batavia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Coleman
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Coleman is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman
    • Elgin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Geneva
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Saint Charles
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • East Dundee
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Mooseheart
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • South Elgin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • South Elgin is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elgin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,646 people
    • Aurora
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • North Aurora
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • North Aurora is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Aurora
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,144 people
    • Carpentersville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Bonnie
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Bonnie is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonnie
      • Bonnie has also been known as:
      • Bonnie Valley
  • Kendall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from River Forest, with the one closest to River Forest listed first.
    • Boulder Hill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Boulder Hill is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder Hill
    • Montgomery
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from River Forest, with the one closest to River Forest listed first.
    • Braeside
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Braeside is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braeside
    • Deerfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Ravinia
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Ravinia is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravinia
    • Riverwoods
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Buffalo Grove
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Aptakisic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Aptakisic is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aptakisic
    • Bannockburn
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Highland Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Highwood
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Lincolnshire
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Prairie View
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Prairie View is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie View
    • Long Grove
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • McHenry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from River Forest, with the one closest to River Forest listed first.
    • Fox River Grove
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Algonquin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Trout Valley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Trout Valley is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trout Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 508 people
  • Will County
    • The following are listed by their distance from River Forest, with the one closest to River Forest listed first.
    • Colonial Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Colonial Village is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
    • Winston Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Winston Village is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston Village
    • Bolingbrook
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Goodings Grove
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Goodings Grove is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodings Grove
    • Bloomfield Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Bloomfield Village is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomfield Village
    • Homer Glen
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Homer Glen is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer Glen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,281 people
      • Homer Glen has also been known as:
      • Homer Glen village
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Homer Glen <1>
    • Romeoville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Lockport
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Frankfort Square
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Frankfort Square is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankfort Square
    • Mokena
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Gilletts ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Gilletts is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilletts
    • Fairmont
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Fairmont is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmont
  • Lake County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from River Forest, with the one closest to River Forest listed first.
    • Whiting
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • East Chicago
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Hammond
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Hammond is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammond
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 75,342 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hammond <1>
    • Hessville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Hessville is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hessville
    • Munster
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Munster is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munster
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 22,483 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Munster <1>
    • Highland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near River Forest ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of River Forest.

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 River Forest - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Forest Home Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Concordia Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Waldheim Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Elmwood Memorial Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmwood Memorial Cemetery
    • The Elmwood Memorial Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Elmwood Cemetery
  • Waldheim Jewish Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Joseph and Sons Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Free Sons of Israel Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Waldheim Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Joseph Cemetery
    • The St. Joseph Cemetery has also been known as:
    • St. Joseph's Cemetery
  • Menorah Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Irving Park Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irving Park Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Irving Park Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Norridge.
    • The Irving Park Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Irving Park Boulevard Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #106325 <2>
  • Continue List   (357 more) ...
    • Mt. Mayrw Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Mayrw Cemetery
      • The Mt. Mayrw Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Mt. Mayriv Cemetery
    • B'nai Abraham Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Mt. Isaiah Israel Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)

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 River Forest in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of River Forest.

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

  • Maywood
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Oak Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • River Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Austin
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Austin is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austin
  • Galewood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Galewood is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galewood
  • Mont Clare
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Mont Clare is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mont Clare
  • Berwyn
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Berwyn is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berwyn
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 53,701 people
  • Moreland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Moreland is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moreland
  • Cragin
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cragin is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cragin
  • Dunning
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Dunning is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunning
  • Hillside
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Riverside
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • LaVergne
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • LaVergne is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for LaVergne
    • Clyde
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Clyde is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
    • Mandell
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Mandell is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mandell

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

Newspapers Published in River Forest ...

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 96 newspapers that have been published in the area around River Forest.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of River Forest, there are papers which were published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for River Forest.

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 River Forest:

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 River Forest, 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- River Forest) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.