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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 Waukegan (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 Waukegan. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.

Waukegan is located in Lake County and is the County Seat.

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

  • Lake County     (The home county of Waukegan)
  • Cook County
  • DuPage County
  • Kane County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waukegan, with the one closest to Waukegan listed first.
    • Carpentersville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • East Dundee
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Sleepy Hollow
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • McHenry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waukegan, with the one closest to Waukegan listed first.
    • Lakemoor
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Island Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 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
    • Pistakee Highlands
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Pistakee Highlands is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pistakee Highlands
    • Holiday Hills
      (20 miles [32.2 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
    • Johnsburg
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Sunnyside
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Sunnyside is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
    • Spring Grove
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Fox River Grove
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Barreville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Oakwood Hills
      (22 miles [35.4 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
    • Prairie Grove
      (22 miles [35.4 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
    • Cary
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Cary is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cary
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,929 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cary <1>
    • McCullom Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • McCullom Lake is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCullom Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 996 people
  • Kenosha County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waukegan, with the one closest to Waukegan listed first.
    • Pleasant Prairie
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Pleasant Prairie is located in Kenosha County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Prairie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,373 people
    • Fossland
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Kenosha
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Benet Lake
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Shangrila
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Woodworth
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bristol
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Somers
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Somers is located in Kenosha County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somers
    • Camp Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Camp Lake is located in Kenosha County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Lake
    • Salem Lakes
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Paddock Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Paddock Lake is located in Kenosha County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paddock Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,232 people
    • Paris
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Fox River
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Racine County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waukegan, with the one closest to Waukegan listed first.
    • Elmwood Park
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Sturtevant
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Mount Pleasant
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,048 people
    • Union Grove
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Union Grove is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,266 people
    • Racine
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Franksville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Franksville is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franksville
    • North Bay
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • North Bay is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bay
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 233 people
    • Yorkville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Yorkville is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkville
    • Eagle Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Eagle Lake is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Lake
    • Wind Point
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Wind Point is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wind Point
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,685 people
    • Bohners Lake
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Bohners Lake is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bohners Lake
    • Browns Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Browns Lake is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Lake
  • Walworth County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waukegan, with the one closest to Waukegan listed first.
    • Genoa City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • 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
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Pell Lake is located in Walworth County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pell Lake

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

Cemeteries Near Waukegan ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Waukegan.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Waukegan, with the one closest to Waukegan 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 Waukegan had a population of 4,915 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Waukegan had a population of 85,453 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Waukegan ...

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 65 newspapers that have been published in the area around Waukegan.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Waukegan. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Waukegan and those printed in the larger area surrounding Waukegan.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<4> of Waukegan.

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 Waukegan:

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