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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 South Chicago Heights (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 South Chicago Heights. 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 South Chicago Heights ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for South Chicago Heights: S. Chicago Hts. (in Canada, 'Hgts.' is the more common abbreviation.)

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 doctors and 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.

South Chicago Heights 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 South Chicago Heights. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to South Chicago Heights:

  • Cook County     (The home county of South Chicago Heights)
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Chicago Heights, with the one closest to South Chicago Heights listed first.
    • Chicago Heights
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Park Forest
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Sauk Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Ford Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Olympia Fields
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Richton Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Glenwood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Flossmoor
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Homewood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Lynwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Matteson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • East Hazel Crest
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • East Hazel Crest is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Hazel Crest
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,479 people
  • DuPage County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Chicago Heights, with the one closest to South Chicago Heights listed first.
    • Tedens ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Tedens is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tedens
    • Willowbrook
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Darien
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hinsdale
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Clarendon Hills
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Westmont
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Woodridge
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Downers Grove
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Brook
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Brook Terrace
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • 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
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Utopia is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utopia
  • Kankakee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Chicago Heights, with the one closest to South Chicago Heights listed first.
    • Grant Park
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Grant Park is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant Park
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,231 people
    • Sherburnville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Sherburnville is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherburnville
    • Manteno
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Illinoi
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Illinoi is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illinoi
    • Saint George
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Saint George is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint George
    • Illiana Heights
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Illiana Heights is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illiana Heights
    • Litchfield
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Litchfield is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Litchfield
    • Momence
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Bourbonnais
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Bradley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Sun River Terrace
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Sun River Terrace is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun River Terrace
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 488 people
    • Kankakee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Will County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Chicago Heights, with the one closest to South Chicago Heights listed first.
    • Steger
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Crete
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • University Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Willowbrook
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Goodenow
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Goodenow is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodenow
    • Monee
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Frankfort Square
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Frankfort Square is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankfort Square
    • Beecher
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Frankfort
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Peotone
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Mokena
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Gilletts ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Gilletts is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilletts
  • Jasper County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Chicago Heights, with the one closest to South Chicago Heights listed first.
    • Forest City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Forest City is located in Jasper County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
    • DeMotte
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • DeMotte is located in Jasper County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeMotte
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,172 people
      • DeMotte has also been known as:
      • De Motte
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for DeMotte <1>
  • Lake County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Chicago Heights, with the one closest to South Chicago Heights listed first.
    • Dyer
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Dyer is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,955 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dyer <1>
    • Hartsdale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Hartsdale is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartsdale
    • Saint John
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Munster
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • 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>
    • Schererville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Hammond
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • 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>
    • Highland
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Griffith
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • New Elliott
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • New Elliott is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Elliott
    • Hessville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Hessville is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hessville
    • Cedar Lake
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Lincoln Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Lincoln Village is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Village
  • Newton County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Chicago Heights, with the one closest to South Chicago Heights listed first.
    • Sumava Resorts
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Lake Village is located in Newton County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Village
    • Thayer
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Thayer is located in Newton County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thayer
    • Roselawn
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Roselawn is located in Newton County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roselawn
  • Porter County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Chicago Heights, with the one closest to South Chicago Heights listed first.
    • Wheeler
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Wheeler is located in Porter County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler
    • Portage
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Portage is located in Porter County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portage
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 37,137 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Portage <1>
    • Willow Creek
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Willow Creek is located in Porter County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Creek
    • Woodland Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Woodland Village is located in Porter County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Village
    • Porter Crossroads
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Porter Crossroads is located in Porter County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter Crossroads
    • Ogden Dunes
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Ogden Dunes is located in Porter County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogden Dunes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,083 people
    • Hebron
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Hebron is located in Porter County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,669 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hebron <1>
    • South Haven
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • South Haven is located in Porter County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Haven
    • Boone Grove
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Boone Grove is located in Porter County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boone Grove
    • Babcock
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Babcock is located in Porter County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babcock
    • Burns Harbor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Aylesworth
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Aylesworth is located in Porter County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aylesworth

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

Cemeteries Near South Chicago Heights ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of South Chicago Heights.

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 South Chicago Heights - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Bloom Presbyterian Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Evergreen Hill Memory Gardens
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Hill Memory Gardens
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Evergreen Hill Memory Gardens is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Steger.
    • The Evergreen Hill Memory Gardens has also been known as:
    • Evergreen Hill Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #105615 <2>
  • Adams Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Crete Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crete Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Crete Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Crete.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2335374 <2>
  • St. Anne Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Zion Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Zion Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Beebe's Grove Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beebe's Grove Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Beebe's Grove Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<3> to the east of Crete.
    • The Beebe's Grove Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
    • Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
    • Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2288139 <2>
  • St. James Catholic Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (310 more) ...

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>

While we didn't find South Chicago Heights in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of South Chicago Heights.

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

  • Chicago Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Crete
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Glenwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Matteson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Homewood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Monee
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Goodenow
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Goodenow is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodenow
  • Dyer
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Dyer is located in Lake County (IN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyer
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,955 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dyer <1>
  • Thornton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Maynard
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Maynard is located in Lake County (IN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maynard
  • Lansing
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Thornton Junction
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Thornton Junction is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornton Junction
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Saint John
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Hartsdale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Hartsdale is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartsdale
    • Bernice
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Bernice is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bernice

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

Newspapers Published in South Chicago Heights ...

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 148 newspapers that have been published in the area around South Chicago Heights.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of South Chicago Heights, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for South Chicago Heights.

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 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 South Chicago Heights:

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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- South Chicago Heights) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 South Chicago Heights, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.