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 Saint Charles (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 Saint Charles. 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 Saint Charles ...
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 Saint Charles: St. Charles
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Saint Charles. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Saint Charles.
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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Saint Charles is primarily located in Kane County. A portion of Saint Charles extends into DuPage 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 Saint Charles. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Saint Charles:
- Kane County (The home county of Saint Charles)
- The following are listed by their distance from Saint Charles, with the one closest to Saint Charles listed first.
- Geneva
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Bonnie
(3 miles [4.8 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
- Coleman
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Coleman is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman
- South Elgin
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- South Elgin is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elgin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 24,646 people
- Batavia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Campton Hills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- 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
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Mooseheart
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- North Aurora
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- North Aurora is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Aurora
- Population from the 2020 Census: 18,144 people
- Elgin
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Bowes Bend
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Bowes Bend is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowes Bend
- Elburn
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Boone County
- Herbert
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Herbert is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herbert
- Cook County
- The following are listed by their distance from Saint Charles, with the one closest to Saint Charles listed first.
- Streamwood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Hanover Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Hoffman Estates
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Schaumburg
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- South Barrington
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- South Barrington is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Barrington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,976 people
- Barrington Hills
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Barrington Hills is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,152 people
- Elk Grove Village
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Inverness
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Barrington
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Fairfax Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Fairfax Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax Village
- Plum Grove Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Plum Grove Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Grove Village
- Rolling Meadows
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- DeKalb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Saint Charles, with the one closest to Saint Charles listed first.
- Charter Grove
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Charter Grove is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charter Grove
- New Lebanon
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- New Lebanon is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lebanon
- Hinckley
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Cortland
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Sycamore
(19 miles [30.6 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
- Coltonville ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Coltonville is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coltonville
- De Kalb
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Genoa
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Franks
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Franks is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franks
- Brush Point ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Brush Point is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Point
- Sandwich
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Elva
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Elva is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elva
- DuPage County
- The following are listed by their distance from Saint Charles, with the one closest to Saint Charles listed first.
- Wayne
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- West Chicago
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- West Chicago is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chicago
- Population from the 2020 Census: 26,593 people
- Ingalton
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Ingalton is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingalton
- Bartlett
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Winfield
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Carol Stream
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Cloverdale
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Cloverdale is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Warrenville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Keeneyville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Keeneyville is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keeneyville
- Eola
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Wheaton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Bloomingdale
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Kendall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Saint Charles, with the one closest to Saint Charles listed first.
- Montgomery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Boulder Hill
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Boulder Hill is located in Kendall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder Hill
- Oswego
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Bristol
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Yorkville
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Little Rock
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Little Rock is located in Kendall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rock
- Plano
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Millbrook
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Plattville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Plattville is located in Kendall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plattville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
- Newark
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- La Salle County
- Millington
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Lake County
- The following are listed by their distance from Saint Charles, with the one closest to Saint Charles listed first.
- Deer Park
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Barrington
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Lake Barrington is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Barrington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,840 people
- North Barrington
(21 miles [33.8 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
- Kildeer
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Zurich
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Fox River Valley Gardens
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Port Barrington
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- 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
- Tower Lakes
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Tower Lakes is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Lakes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,219 people
- Forest Lake
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Forest Lake is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lake
- Buffalo Grove
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Long Grove
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Gilmer
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Gilmer is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilmer
- McHenry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Saint Charles, with the one closest to Saint Charles listed first.
- Algonquin
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Huntley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Lake-in-the-Hills
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Fox River Grove
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Trout Valley
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Trout Valley is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trout Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 508 people
- Cary
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Crystal Lake
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Lakewood
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Oakwood Hills
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Oakwood Hills is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,011 people
- Barreville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Barreville is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barreville
- Prairie Grove
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Prairie Grove is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Grove
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,920 people
- Ridgefield
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Ridgefield is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgefield
- Will County
- The following are listed by their distance from Saint Charles, with the one closest to Saint Charles listed first.
- Normantown
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Normantown is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normantown
- Winston Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Winston Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston Village
- Bloomfield Village
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Bloomfield Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomfield Village
- Bolingbrook
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Colonial Village
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Colonial Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
- Plainfield
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Walker
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Walker is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walker
- Romeoville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Crystal Lawns
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Crystal Lawns is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lawns
- Summerfield
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Summerfield is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerfield
- Lockport
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Crest Hill
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Saint Charles, see our County-by-County Page for Saint Charles.
Cemeteries Near Saint Charles ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Saint Charles.
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 Saint Charles - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Saint Charles covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Saint Charles, with the one closest to Saint Charles listed first.
- South Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Union Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- North Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Cemetery
- The North Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Charles Twp Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #107199 <2>
- Westside Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Oak Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hill Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Oak Hill Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Geneva.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #107244 <2>
- State Training School For Girls Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Round Grove Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- East Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Prairie Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Resurrection Catholic Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- East Batavia Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Little Woods Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (403 more) ...
- Garfield Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- West Batavia Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Westside Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
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 Saint Charles had a population of 1,690 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Saint Charles had a population of 32,709 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Saint Charles, with the one closest to Saint Charles listed first.
- Geneva
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Batavia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- South Elgin
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- South Elgin is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elgin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 24,646 people
- Wayne
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Coleman
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Coleman is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman
- Wasco
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Youngsdale
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Youngsdale is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Youngsdale
- Ingalton
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Ingalton is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingalton
- Clintonville
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Clintonville is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clintonville
- Spaulding
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Spaulding is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spaulding
- Bald Mound
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Bald Mound is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bald Mound
- North Aurora
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- North Aurora is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Aurora
- Population from the 2020 Census: 18,144 people
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Bartlett
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Elburn
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Warrenhurst
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Warrenhurst is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrenhurst
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Saint Charles. See our List of 1890's Communities around Saint Charles.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Saint Charles ...
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 113 newspapers that have been published in the area around Saint Charles.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Saint Charles. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Saint Charles and those printed in the larger area surrounding Saint Charles.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<4> of Saint Charles.
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 Saint Charles:
- 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
- McHenry County
- Will 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 Saint Charles, 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' (or 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- Saint Charles) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |