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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 Holland (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 Holland. 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 Holland ...

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 Holland: S. Holland

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 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.

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

  • Cook County     (The home county of South Holland)
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Holland, with the one closest to South Holland listed first.
    • Phoenix
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Phoenix is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phoenix
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,884 people
    • Globe
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Globe is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe
    • Dolton
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • East Hazel Crest
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • 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
    • Thornton
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Harvey
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Calumet City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Dixmoor
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Dixmoor is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixmoor
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,518 people
    • Riverdale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Glenwood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Lansing
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Homewood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Burnham
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Burnham is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,040 people
  • DuPage County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Holland, with the one closest to South Holland listed first.
    • Tedens ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Tedens is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tedens
    • Willowbrook
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Clarendon Hills
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Darien
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Hinsdale
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Westmont
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Brook
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Woodridge
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Downers Grove
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Brook Terrace
      (25 miles [40.2 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
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Utopia is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utopia
    • South Elmhurst
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • South Elmhurst is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elmhurst
    • York Center
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • York Center is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York Center
  • Kankakee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Holland, with the one closest to South Holland listed first.
    • Grant Park
      (24 miles [38.6 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
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Sherburnville is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherburnville
    • Manteno
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Illinoi
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Illinoi is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illinoi
    • Illiana Heights
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Illiana Heights is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illiana Heights
    • Saint George
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Saint George is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint George
    • Litchfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Litchfield is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Litchfield
    • Momence
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Will County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Holland, with the one closest to South Holland listed first.
    • Steger
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Crete
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Willowbrook
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Frankfort Square
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Frankfort Square is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankfort Square
    • University Park
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Goodenow
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Goodenow is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodenow
    • Frankfort
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Monee
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Mokena
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Homer Glen
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • 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>
    • Beecher
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Goodings Grove
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Goodings Grove is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodings Grove
    • Gilletts ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Gilletts is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilletts
  • Lake County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Holland, with the one closest to South Holland listed first.
    • Hammond
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • 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>
    • Munster
      (6 miles [9.7 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>
    • Hessville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Hessville is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hessville
    • East Chicago
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Highland
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Whiting
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Dyer
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • 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
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Hartsdale is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartsdale
    • Griffith
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • New Elliott
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • New Elliott is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Elliott
    • Schererville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Gary
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Gary is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 74,693 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gary <1>
    • Ross
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Ross is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ross
  • Newton County (IN)
  • Porter County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Holland, with the one closest to South Holland listed first.
    • Ogden Dunes
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Ogden Dunes is located in Porter County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogden Dunes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,083 people
    • Portage
      (21 miles [33.8 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
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Willow Creek is located in Porter County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Creek
    • Woodland Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Woodland Village is located in Porter County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Village
    • Wheeler
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Wheeler is located in Porter County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler
    • Burns Harbor
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • South Haven
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • South Haven is located in Porter County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Haven
    • Babcock
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Babcock is located in Porter County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babcock
    • Dune Acres
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Dune Acres is located in Porter County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dune Acres
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 182 people
    • Porter Crossroads
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Porter Crossroads is located in Porter County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter Crossroads
    • Chesterton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Porter
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Porter is located in Porter County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,840 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Porter <1>
    • Hebron
      (28 miles [45.1 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>

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

Cemeteries Near South Holland ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of South Holland.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from South Holland, with the one closest to South Holland 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that South Holland had a population of 1,005 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, South Holland had a population of 21,040 people.

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

  • Thornton Junction
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Thornton Junction is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornton Junction
  • Berger
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Berger is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berger
  • Thornton
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Globe
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Globe is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe
  • Harvey
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Homewood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Glenwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Lansing
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Bernice
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Bernice is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bernice
  • Calumet City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Riverdale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Burnham
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Burnham is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnham
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,040 people
  • Continue List   (21 more) ...
    • Hegewisch
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Hegewisch is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hegewisch
    • Gano
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Gano is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gano
    • Hammond
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • 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>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of South Holland ...

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 130 newspapers that have been published in the area around South Holland.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of South Holland. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of South Holland and those printed in the larger area surrounding South Holland.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<4> of South Holland.

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 South Holland:

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