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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 Shannon (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 Shannon. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Shannon is located in Carroll County.

To see how the shape of Illinois' counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Carroll County: Clinton (IA), Jackson (IA), Jo Daviess, Ogle, Stephenson & Whiteside.

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

  • Carroll County     (The home county of Shannon)
  • Jo Daviess County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shannon, with the one closest to Shannon listed first.
    • Pleasant Valley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Stockton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stockton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockton
      • Stockton is located in Jo Daviess County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,709 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stockton <1>
    • Nora
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nora have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nora
      • Nora is located in Jo Daviess County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nora <1>
    • Warren
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warren have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren
      • Warren is located in Jo Daviess County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,300 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Warren <1>
    • Elizabeth
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elizabeth have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth
      • Elizabeth is located in Jo Daviess County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 722 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elizabeth <1>
    • Hanover
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hanover have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanover
      • Hanover is located in Jo Daviess County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 769 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hanover <1>
    • Apple River
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Lee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shannon, with the one closest to Shannon listed first.
    • Prairieville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairieville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairieville
      • Prairieville is located in Lee County
    • Nelson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nelson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
      • Nelson is located in Lee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nelson <1>
    • Dixon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Nachusa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nachusa have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nachusa
      • Nachusa is located in Lee County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nachusa <1>
  • Ogle County
  • Stephenson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shannon, with the one closest to Shannon listed first.
    • Florence
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Florence have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
      • Florence is located in Stephenson County
    • Bolton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bolton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolton
      • Bolton is located in Stephenson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bolton
      • From Shannon to Bolton
    • Pearl City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Freeport
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeport have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
      • Freeport is located in Stephenson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23,447 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeport <1>
    • Loran
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Eleroy
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Yellow Creek
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • German Valley
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Salem
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Salem have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem
      • Salem is located in Stephenson County
    • Kent
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kent have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
      • Kent is located in Stephenson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kent <1>
    • Cedarville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Lena
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Red Oak
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Red Oak. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oak
      • Red Oak is located in Stephenson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Red Oak
      • From Shannon to Red Oak
  • Whiteside County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shannon, with the one closest to Shannon listed first.
    • Coleta
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coleta have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleta
      • Coleta is located in Whiteside County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 151 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coleta <1>
    • Penrose
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • White Pigeon
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Malvern
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Malvern. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malvern
      • Malvern is located in Whiteside County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Malvern
      • From Shannon to Malvern
    • Spring Valley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Galt
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Galt have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galt
      • Galt is located in Whiteside County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Galt <1>
    • Sterling
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Rock Falls
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Morrison
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morrison have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrison
      • Morrison is located in Whiteside County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,950 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Morrison <1>
    • Union Grove
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Fulton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fulton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
      • Fulton is located in Whiteside County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,285 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fulton <1>
    • East Clinton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Winnebago County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shannon, with the one closest to Shannon listed first.
    • Seward
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seward have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seward
      • Seward is located in Winnebago County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seward <1>
    • Pecatonica
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pecatonica have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pecatonica
      • Pecatonica is located in Winnebago County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,065 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pecatonica <1>
    • Alworth
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Winnebago
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Lake Summerset
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Summerset have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Summerset
      • Lake Summerset is located in Winnebago County
    • Durand
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Wempletown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wempletown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wempletown
      • Wempletown is located in Winnebago County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wempletown
      • From Shannon to Wempletown
  • Clinton County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shannon, with the one closest to Shannon listed first.
    • Elk River Junction
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elk River Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk River Junction
      • Elk River Junction is located in Clinton County (IA)
    • Teeds Grove
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Andover
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Jackson County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shannon, with the one closest to Shannon listed first.
    • Sabula
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sabula have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sabula
      • Sabula is located in Jackson County (IA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 545 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sabula <1>
    • Green Island
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Island have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Island
      • Green Island is located in Jackson County (IA)
    • Miles
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Miles have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miles
      • Miles is located in Jackson County (IA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 430 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Miles <1>
  • Green County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shannon, with the one closest to Shannon listed first.
    • Cadiz
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cadiz. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cadiz
      • Cadiz is located in Green County (WI)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cadiz
      • From Shannon to Cadiz
    • Twin Grove
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Twin Grove. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Grove
      • Twin Grove is located in Green County (WI)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Twin Grove
      • From Shannon to Twin Grove
    • Browntown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Lafayette County (WI)
    • South Wayne
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Wayne have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Wayne
      • South Wayne is located in Lafayette County (WI)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 472 people

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

Cemeteries Near Shannon ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shannon.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Shannon, with the one closest to Shannon 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Shannon had a population of 591 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Shannon had a population of 684 people.

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

  • Kittredge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kittredge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kittredge
    • Kittredge is located in Carroll County
  • Harper
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Lanark
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Bolton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bolton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolton
    • Bolton is located in Stephenson County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Bolton
    • From Shannon to Bolton
  • Brookville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Forreston
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forreston have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forreston
    • Forreston is located in Ogle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,338 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Forreston <1>
  • Baileyville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Baileyville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baileyville
    • Baileyville is located in Ogle County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Baileyville <1>
  • Elkhorn Grove
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Haldane
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • South Freeport
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Freeport have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Freeport
    • South Freeport is located in Stephenson County
  • Freeport
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeport have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
    • Freeport is located in Stephenson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 23,447 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeport <1>
  • Loran
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Hitt
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hitt. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hitt
      • Hitt is located in Carroll County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hitt
      • From Shannon to Hitt
    • Eagle Point
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Point
      • Eagle Point is located in Ogle County
    • Maryland
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Shannon ...

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 82 newspapers that have been published in the area around Shannon.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Shannon. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Shannon and those printed in the larger area surrounding Shannon.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<5> of Shannon.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Shannon:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Shannon. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Carroll County: visitcarrollcountyil.com/

The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov

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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>To help visualize the location of the cemetery, we've drawn a straight line between the communities of Georgetown and Zier Cors. The cemetery can be found near that line and roughly halfway between the two communities. Remember that this is just an approximate location.
<5>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- Shannon) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shannon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1547, Longitude: -89.7396    
<6>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 Shannon, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025