RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> DuPage County >> Wayne Center >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Wayne Center (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 Wayne Center. 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 Wayne Center ...

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 Wayne Center: Wayne Ctr. (or less commonly used: Wayne Cen., Wayne Cent. or Wayne Cntr.)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Wayne Center. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Wayne Center.

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals 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.

Wayne Center is located in DuPage 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 DuPage County: Cook, Kane, Kendall & Will.

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

  • DuPage County     (The home county of Wayne Center)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wayne Center, with the one closest to Wayne Center listed first.
    • Cloverdale
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Cloverdale is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
    • Bartlett
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Carol Stream
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Ingalton
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Ingalton is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingalton
    • Keeneyville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Keeneyville is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keeneyville
    • Wayne
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Bloomingdale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Roselle
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Winfield
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Glendale Heights
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • West Chicago
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • West Chicago is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chicago
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26,593 people
    • Medinah
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Wheaton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Cook County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wayne Center, with the one closest to Wayne Center listed first.
    • Hanover Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Streamwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Schaumburg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Hoffman Estates
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • South Barrington
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • South Barrington is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Barrington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,976 people
    • Elk Grove Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Fairfax Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Fairfax Village is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax Village
    • Rolling Meadows
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Inverness
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Plum Grove Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Plum Grove Village is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Grove Village
    • Winthrop Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Winthrop Village is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winthrop Village
    • Berkeley
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Barrington Hills
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Barrington Hills is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,152 people
  • DeKalb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wayne Center, with the one closest to Wayne Center listed first.
    • New Lebanon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • New Lebanon is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lebanon
    • Charter Grove
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Charter Grove is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charter Grove
    • Hinckley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Cortland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Sycamore
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Sycamore is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,317 people
    • Coltonville ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Coltonville is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coltonville
    • Genoa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • De Kalb
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Franks
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Franks is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franks
    • Sandwich
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Brush Point ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Brush Point is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Point
  • Kane County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wayne Center, with the one closest to Wayne Center listed first.
    • Coleman
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Coleman is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman
    • South Elgin
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • South Elgin is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elgin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,646 people
    • Geneva
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Saint Charles
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Elgin
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Batavia
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Bonnie
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Bonnie is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonnie
      • Bonnie has also been known as:
      • Bonnie Valley
    • East Dundee
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Mooseheart
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Campton Hills
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Campton Hills is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campton Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,063 people
      • Campton Hills has also been known as:
      • Campton Hills village
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Campton Hills <1>
    • Wasco
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Sleepy Hollow
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • North Aurora
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • North Aurora is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Aurora
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,144 people
  • Kendall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wayne Center, with the one closest to Wayne Center listed first.
    • Boulder Hill
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Boulder Hill is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder Hill
    • Montgomery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Oswego
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Bristol
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Yorkville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Little Rock
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Little Rock is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rock
    • Plano
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Plano is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plano
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,879 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plano <1>
    • Plattville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Plattville is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plattville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
    • Millbrook
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wayne Center, with the one closest to Wayne Center listed first.
    • Deer Park
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Kildeer
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Lake Zurich
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Lake Barrington
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Lake Barrington is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Barrington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,840 people
    • North Barrington
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • North Barrington is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Barrington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,938 people
    • Buffalo Grove
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Forest Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Forest Lake is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lake
    • Tower Lakes
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Tower Lakes is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Lakes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,219 people
    • Long Grove
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Fox River Valley Gardens
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Port Barrington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Port Barrington is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Barrington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,481 people
      • Port Barrington has also been known as:
      • Port Barrington village
    • Aptakisic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Aptakisic is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aptakisic
    • Prairie View
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Prairie View is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie View
  • McHenry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wayne Center, with the one closest to Wayne Center listed first.
    • Algonquin
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Fox River Grove
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Lake-in-the-Hills
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Trout Valley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Trout Valley is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trout Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 508 people
    • Cary
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • 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>
    • Huntley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Oakwood Hills
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Oakwood Hills is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,011 people
    • Crystal Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lakewood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Barreville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Barreville is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barreville
    • Island Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Island Lake is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,951 people
    • Prairie Grove
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Prairie Grove is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,920 people
    • Holiday Hills
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Holiday Hills is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 574 people
  • Will County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wayne Center, with the one closest to Wayne Center listed first.
    • Winston Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Winston Village is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston Village
    • Bolingbrook
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Colonial Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Colonial Village is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
    • Bloomfield Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Bloomfield Village is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomfield Village
    • Normantown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Normantown is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normantown
    • Romeoville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Plainfield
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Walker
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Walker is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walker
    • Crystal Lawns
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Crystal Lawns is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lawns
    • Lockport
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Goodings Grove
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Goodings Grove is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodings Grove
    • Summerfield
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Summerfield is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerfield
    • Homer Glen
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • 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>

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

Cemeteries Near Wayne Center ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wayne Center.

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 Wayne Center - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Wayne Center, with the one closest to Wayne Center 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>

While we didn't find Wayne Center in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Wayne Center.

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

  • Bartlett
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Ingalton
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Ingalton is located in DuPage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingalton
  • Cloverdale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Cloverdale is located in DuPage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
  • Ontarioville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Ontarioville is located in DuPage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ontarioville
  • Wayne
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Gretna
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Gretna is located in DuPage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gretna
  • Bloomingdale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Roselle
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Spaulding
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Spaulding is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spaulding
  • Wheaton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Clintonville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Clintonville is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clintonville
  • Coleman
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Coleman is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Saint Charles
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Geneva
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Glen Ellyn
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Wayne Center ...

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 68 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wayne Center.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wayne Center, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wayne Center.

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 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 Wayne Center:

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 Wayne Center, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Wayne Center) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.