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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 Tinley Park (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 Tinley Park. 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.

Tinley Park is primarily located in Cook County. A portion of Tinley Park extends into Will 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 Tinley Park. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Tinley Park:

  • Cook County     (The home county of Tinley Park)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tinley Park, with the one closest to Tinley Park listed first.
    • Orland Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Forest
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Country Club Hills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Orland Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Matteson
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Hazel Crest
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Midlothian
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Flossmoor
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Markham
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Palos Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Crestwood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Olympia Fields
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • DuPage County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tinley Park, with the one closest to Tinley Park listed first.
    • Tedens ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Tedens is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tedens
    • Darien
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Willowbrook
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Woodridge
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hinsdale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Clarendon Hills
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Westmont
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Downers Grove
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Brook
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Lisle
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Lisle is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisle
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23,153 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lisle <1>
    • Oak Brook Terrace
      (21 miles [33.8 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
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Utopia is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utopia
  • Grundy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tinley Park, with the one closest to Tinley Park listed first.
    • Channahon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Minooka
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Sand Ridge
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Sand Ridge is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Ridge
    • Diamond
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Kane County
    • Aurora
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Kankakee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tinley Park, with the one closest to Tinley Park listed first.
    • Manteno
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • 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
    • Saint George
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Saint George is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint George
    • Bourbonnais
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Sherburnville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Sherburnville is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherburnville
    • Bradley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Momence
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Illinoi
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Illinoi is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illinoi
    • Kankakee
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Sun River Terrace
      (30 miles [48.3 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
    • Illiana Heights
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Illiana Heights is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illiana Heights
    • Litchfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Litchfield is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Litchfield
  • Kendall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tinley Park, with the one closest to Tinley Park listed first.
    • Boulder Hill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Boulder Hill is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder Hill
    • Oswego
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Montgomery
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • Plattville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Plattville is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plattville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
  • Will County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tinley Park, with the one closest to Tinley Park listed first.
    • Frankfort Square
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Frankfort Square is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankfort Square
    • Frankfort
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Mokena
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Homer Glen
      (6 miles [9.7 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>
    • Goodings Grove
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Goodings Grove is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodings Grove
    • Gilletts ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Gilletts is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilletts
    • University Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Brisbane
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Brisbane is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brisbane
    • New Lenox
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Monee
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Steger
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Cherry Hill
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Cherry Hill is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Hill
  • Lake County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tinley Park, with the one closest to Tinley Park listed first.
    • Dyer
      (15 miles [24.1 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>
    • Hammond
      (15 miles [24.1 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
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • 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>
    • Hartsdale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Hartsdale is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartsdale
    • Hessville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Hessville is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hessville
    • East Chicago
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Highland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Whiting
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Griffith
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Schererville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Saint John
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • New Elliott
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • New Elliott is located in Lake County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Elliott

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

Cemeteries Near Tinley Park ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Tinley Park.

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 Tinley Park - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Tinley Park, with the one closest to Tinley Park listed first.

  • Lewis Memorial Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • German Methodist Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Zion Lutheran Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Christ Lutheran Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery is located in Frankfort.
    • The Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Hickory Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #106131 <2>
  • Lutheran Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Pauls Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Old German Methodist Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Good Shepherd Catholic Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Frankfort Twp. Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankfort Twp. Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Frankfort Twp. Cemetery is located in Frankfort.
    • The Frankfort Twp. Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Frankfort Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #105730 <2>
  • Continue List   (383 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Tinley Park had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Tinley Park had a population of 55,221 people.

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

  • Matteson
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Goeselville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Goeselville is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goeselville
  • Alpine
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Alpine is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
  • Mokena
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Marley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Marley is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marley
  • Homewood
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Goodings Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Goodings Grove is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodings Grove
  • Spencer
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Spencer is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spencer
  • Harvey
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Worth
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • New Lenox
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Steele
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Steele is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steele
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Brisbane
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Brisbane is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brisbane
    • Chicago Heights
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Thornton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Tinley Park ...

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 88 newspapers that have been published in the area around Tinley Park.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Tinley Park. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Tinley Park and those printed in the larger area surrounding Tinley Park.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<3> of Tinley Park.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Tinley Park:

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Tinley Park) 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 Tinley Park, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.