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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 Washburn (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 Washburn. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.

Washburn is primarily located in Woodford County. A portion of Washburn extends into Marshall 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 Woodford County: La Salle, Livingston, Marshall, McLean, Peoria & Tazewell.

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

  • Woodford County     (The home county of Washburn)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Washburn, with the one closest to Washburn listed first.
    • Roanoke
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Metamora
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Benson
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Minonk
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Germantown Hills
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Spring Bay
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Spring Bay is located in Woodford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Bay
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 456 people
    • Woodford
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Woodford is located in Woodford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodford
    • Eureka
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Secor
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Bay View Gardens
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Bay View Gardens is located in Woodford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay View Gardens
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 407 people
    • Panola
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Panola is located in Woodford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panola
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 51 people
    • El Paso
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Bureau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Washburn, with the one closest to Washburn listed first.
    • Milo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Milo is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milo
    • Bureau Junction
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Bureau Junction is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bureau Junction
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 297 people
      • Bureau Junction has also been known as:
      • Bureau
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bureau Junction <1>
    • De Pue
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • De Pue is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Pue
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,665 people
    • Spring Valley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Tiskilwa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Ottville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Ottville is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottville
    • Dalzell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Hollowayville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Hollowayville is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollowayville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people
    • Seatonville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • La Salle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Washburn, with the one closest to Washburn listed first.
    • Rutland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Leeds
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Leeds is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leeds
    • Priscilla ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Priscilla is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Priscilla
    • Dana
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Dana is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dana
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dana <1>
    • Lostant
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Lostant is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lostant
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 477 people
      • Lostant has also been known as:
      • Lost Ant
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lostant <1>
    • Tonica
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Leonore
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Cedar Point
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Kangley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Kangley is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kangley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
    • Streator
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Oglesby
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Vermilionville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Vermilionville is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vermilionville
  • Livingston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Washburn, with the one closest to Washburn listed first.
    • Long Point
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Flanagan
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Ancona
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Munster
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Munster is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munster
    • Coalville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Coalville is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalville
    • Vermilion City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Vermilion City is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vermilion City
    • Graymont
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Cornell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Washburn, with the one closest to Washburn listed first.
    • La Rose
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Varna
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Hopewell
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Hopewell is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 394 people
    • Lacon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Lacon is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,713 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lacon <1>
    • Toluca
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Sparland
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Evans ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Evans is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans
    • Henry
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Henry is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,230 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henry <1>
    • Wenona
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Camp Grove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • McLean County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Washburn, with the one closest to Washburn listed first.
    • Carlock
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Gridley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Hudson
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Danvers
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Danvers is located in McLean County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danvers
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,093 people
      • Danvers has also been known as:
      • Danver
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Danvers <1>
    • Meadows
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Meadows is located in McLean County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadows
    • Yuton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Yuton is located in McLean County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yuton
  • Peoria County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Washburn, with the one closest to Washburn listed first.
    • Chillicothe
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Rome
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Mossville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Edelstein
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Peoria Heights
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • West Hallock
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • West Hallock is located in Peoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hallock
    • Keller
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Keller is located in Peoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keller
    • North Peoria
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • North Peoria is located in Peoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Peoria
    • Dunlap
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Orange Prairie
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Peoria
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Pottstown
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Pottstown is located in Peoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottstown
  • Putnam County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Washburn, with the one closest to Washburn listed first.
    • Magnolia
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • McNabb
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Mount Palatine
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Mount Palatine is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Palatine
    • Putnam
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Hennepin
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Granville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Mark
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Standard
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
  • Stark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Washburn, with the one closest to Washburn listed first.
    • Speer
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Castleton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Bradford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Wyoming
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Modena
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Modena is located in Stark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Modena
  • Tazewell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Washburn, with the one closest to Washburn listed first.
    • Washington
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Harvard Hills
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Harvard Hills is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvard Hills
    • Trailpark Gardens
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Trailpark Gardens is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trailpark Gardens
    • Cooper
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Cooper is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooper
    • Beverly Manor
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Beverly Manor is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beverly Manor
    • Robein
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Robein is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robein
    • Sunnyland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Deer Creek
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Farmdale
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Farmdale is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmdale
    • Crandall ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Crandall is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crandall
    • Mayfair
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Mayfair is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayfair
    • Caldwell
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Caldwell is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caldwell

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

Cemeteries Near Washburn ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Washburn.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Washburn, with the one closest to Washburn 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 Washburn had a population of 598 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Washburn had a population of 1,064 people.

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

  • Low Point
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Low Point is located in Woodford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Low Point
  • Cazenovia
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Cazenovia is located in Woodford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cazenovia
  • La Rose
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Varna
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Metamora
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Roanoke
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Lacon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Lacon is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacon
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,713 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lacon <1>
  • Benson
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Toluca
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Sparland
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Chillicothe
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Rome
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Spring Bay
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Spring Bay is located in Woodford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Bay
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 456 people
    • Henry
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Henry is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,230 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henry <1>
    • Cruger
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Cruger is located in Woodford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cruger

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Washburn ...

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 216 newspapers that have been published in the area around Washburn.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Washburn. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Washburn and those printed in the larger area surrounding Washburn.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4> of Washburn.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Washburn:

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 Washburn, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Washburn) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.