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 Sylvan Lake (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 Sylvan Lake. 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 Sylvan Lake ...
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 Sylvan Lake: Sylvan Lk.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Sylvan Lake. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Sylvan Lake.
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 northwest 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 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 west 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.
Sylvan Lake is located in Lake 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 Lake County: Cook, McHenry, Allegan (MI), Berrien (MI), Van Buren (MI) & Kenosha (WI).
Below are the counties that are near Sylvan Lake. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Sylvan Lake:
- Lake County (The home county of Sylvan Lake)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sylvan Lake, with the one closest to Sylvan Lake listed first.
- Gilmer
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Gilmer is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilmer
- Hawthorn Woods
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Ivanhoe
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Ivanhoe is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
- Mundelein
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Forest Lake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Forest Lake is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lake
- Fremont Center
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Fremont Center is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont Center
- Lake Zurich
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Indian Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Indian Creek is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 538 people
- Vernon Hills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Kildeer
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Long Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- North Barrington
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- North Barrington is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Barrington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,938 people
- Cook County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sylvan Lake, with the one closest to Sylvan Lake listed first.
- Capri Village
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Capri Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capri Village
- Barrington
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Inverness
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Palatine
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Plum Grove Village
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Plum Grove Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Grove Village
- Winthrop Village
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Winthrop Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winthrop Village
- Wheeling
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Barrington Hills
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Barrington Hills is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,152 people
- Arlington Heights
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Fairfax Village
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Fairfax Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax Village
- Rolling Meadows
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Prospect Heights
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- DeKalb County
- New Lebanon
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- New Lebanon is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lebanon
- DuPage County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sylvan Lake, with the one closest to Sylvan Lake listed first.
- Itasca
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Medinah
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Roselle
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Bartlett
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Keeneyville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Keeneyville is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keeneyville
- Wood Dale
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Bensenville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Bloomingdale
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Addison
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Cloverdale
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Cloverdale is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Carol Stream
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Wayne
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Kane County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sylvan Lake, with the one closest to Sylvan Lake listed first.
- Carpentersville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- East Dundee
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Sleepy Hollow
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- West Dundee
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Elgin
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Gilberts
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Freeman
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Freeman is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
- South Elgin
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- South Elgin is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elgin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 24,646 people
- Coleman
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Coleman is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman
- Pingree Grove
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Starks
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Starks is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starks
- Bowes Bend
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Bowes Bend is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowes Bend
- McHenry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sylvan Lake, with the one closest to Sylvan Lake listed first.
- Island Lake
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Island Lake is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,951 people
- Fox River Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Holiday Hills
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Holiday Hills is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 574 people
- Oakwood Hills
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Oakwood Hills is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,011 people
- Lakemoor
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Barreville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Barreville is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barreville
- Cary
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Trout Valley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Trout Valley is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trout Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 508 people
- Prairie Grove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Prairie Grove is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Grove
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,920 people
- Johnsburg
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Algonquin
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Lake-in-the-Hills
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Kenosha County (WI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sylvan Lake, with the one closest to Sylvan Lake listed first.
- Benet Lake
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Benet Lake is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benet Lake
- Fossland
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Fossland is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fossland
- Lake Shangrila
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Lake Shangrila is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Shangrila
- Camp Lake
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Camp Lake is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Lake
- Bristol
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Bristol is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,145 people
- Salem Lakes
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Salem Lakes is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem Lakes
- Former names for Salem Lakes:
- Salem
- Silver Lake
- Woodworth
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Woodworth is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodworth
- Pleasant Prairie
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Pleasant Prairie is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Prairie
- Population from the 2020 Census: 21,373 people
- Fox River
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Fox River is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox River
- Paddock Lake
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Paddock Lake is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paddock Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,232 people
- Twin Lakes
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Twin Lakes is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,234 people
- Powers Lake
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Powers Lake is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powers Lake
- Racine County (WI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sylvan Lake, with the one closest to Sylvan Lake listed first.
- Bohners Lake
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Bohners Lake is located in Racine County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bohners Lake
- Union Grove
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Union Grove is located in Racine County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,266 people
- Walworth County (WI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sylvan Lake, with the one closest to Sylvan Lake listed first.
- Genoa City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Genoa City is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genoa City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,981 people
- Pell Lake
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Pell Lake is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pell Lake
- Zenda
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Zenda is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zenda
- Lake Geneva
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Lake Geneva is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Geneva
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,096 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Sylvan Lake, see our County-by-County Page for Sylvan Lake.
Cemeteries Near Sylvan Lake ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sylvan Lake.
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 Sylvan Lake - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Sylvan Lake covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Sylvan Lake, with the one closest to Sylvan Lake listed first.
- St. Matthew Lutheran Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Fairfield Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Fairfield Cemetery is located in Forest Lake.
- The Fairfield Cemetery has also been known as:
- Fairfield - English Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #105619 <2>
- Ivanhoe Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- St. Marys Catholic Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Lake Zurich Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Gridley Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Diamond Lake Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Transfiguration Catholic Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Wauconda Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Long Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Willow Lawn Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Lakeside Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (331 more) ...
- White Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sutherland Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Knopf Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
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 Sylvan Lake in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Sylvan Lake.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Sylvan Lake, with the one closest to Sylvan Lake listed first.
- Gilmer
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Gilmer is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilmer
- Diamond Lake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Diamond Lake is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond Lake
- Ivanhoe
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Ivanhoe is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
- Fremont Center
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Fremont Center is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont Center
- Lake Zurich
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Leithton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Leithton is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leithton
- Rockefeller
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Rockefeller is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockefeller
- Long Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Wauconda
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Prairie View
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Prairie View is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie View
- Libertyville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Aptakisic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Aptakisic is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aptakisic
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Half Day
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Half Day is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Half Day
- Fort Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Fort Hill is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Hill
- Grayslake
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Sylvan Lake. See our List of 1890's Communities around Sylvan Lake.
Newspapers Published in Sylvan Lake ...
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 79 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sylvan Lake.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sylvan Lake, 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 Sylvan Lake.
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 Sylvan Lake:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Lake County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cook County
- DeKalb County
- DuPage County
- Kane County
- McHenry County
- Kenosha County
- Racine County
- Walworth 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 Sylvan Lake, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Sylvan Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |