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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 Wellington Heights (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 Wellington Heights. 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 Wellington Heights ...

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 Wellington Heights: Wellington Hts. (in Canada, 'Hgts.' is the more common abbreviation.)

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

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 southeast 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 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.

Wellington Heights is located in 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 Will County: Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall & Lake (IN).

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

  • Will County     (The home county of Wellington Heights)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wellington Heights, with the one closest to Wellington Heights listed first.
    • Summerfield
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Summerfield is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerfield
    • Shorewood
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Crystal Lawns
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Crystal Lawns is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lawns
    • Rockdale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Rockdale is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,884 people
    • Crest Hill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Joliet
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Walker
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Walker is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walker
    • Fairmont
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Fairmont is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmont
    • Plainfield
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Preston Heights
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Preston Heights is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston Heights
    • East Joliet
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • East Joliet is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Joliet
    • Ingalls Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Ingalls Park is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingalls Park
  • Cook County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wellington Heights, with the one closest to Wellington Heights listed first.
    • Lemont
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Orland Hills
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Orland Park
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Palos Park
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Tinley Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Burr Ridge
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Willow Springs
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Indian Head Park
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Indian Head Park is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Head Park
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,680 people
    • Palos Hills
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hickory Hills
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Palos Heights
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Countryside
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • DeKalb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wellington Heights, with the one closest to Wellington Heights listed first.
    • Sandwich
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Somonauk
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Franks
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Franks is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franks
    • Hinckley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • DuPage County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wellington Heights, with the one closest to Wellington Heights listed first.
    • Tedens ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Tedens is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tedens
    • Woodridge
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Eola
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Naperville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Darien
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Lisle
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • 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>
    • Warrenville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Downers Grove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Westmont
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Willowbrook
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Clarendon Hills
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hinsdale
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Grundy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wellington Heights, with the one closest to Wellington Heights listed first.
    • Minooka
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Channahon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Sand Ridge
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Sand Ridge is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Ridge
    • Claypool
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Claypool is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claypool
    • Gaslight Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Gaslight Village is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaslight Village
    • Morris
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Carbon Hill
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Carbon Hill is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon Hill
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 334 people
    • Diamond
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Coal City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Centerville ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Centerville is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
    • Central City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Central City is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central City
    • Nettle Creek
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Nettle Creek is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nettle Creek
  • Kane County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wellington Heights, with the one closest to Wellington Heights listed first.
    • Aurora
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • North Aurora
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • North Aurora is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Aurora
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,144 people
    • Sugar Grove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Mooseheart
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Batavia
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Big Rock
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Geneva
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Saint Charles
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Kaneville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bonnie
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Bonnie is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonnie
      • Bonnie has also been known as:
      • Bonnie Valley
    • Elburn
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Campton Hills
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • 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>
  • Kankakee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wellington Heights, with the one closest to Wellington Heights listed first.
    • Essex
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Bonfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Manteno
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Union Hill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Bourbonnais
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Goodrich
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Goodrich is located in Kankakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodrich
    • Reddick
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Kendall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wellington Heights, with the one closest to Wellington Heights listed first.
    • Plattville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Plattville is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plattville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
    • Oswego
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Boulder Hill
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Boulder Hill is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder Hill
    • Bristol
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Montgomery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Yorkville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Lisbon
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Lisbon is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisbon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 310 people
    • Plano
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • 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>
    • Millbrook
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Newark
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Little Rock
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Little Rock is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rock
  • La Salle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wellington Heights, with the one closest to Wellington Heights listed first.
    • Millington
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Stavanger
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Stavanger is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stavanger
    • Sheridan
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Seneca
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Seneca is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seneca
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,217 people
      • Seneca has also been known as:
      • Crotty
      • Seneca village
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seneca <1>
    • Serena
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Blakes
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Blakes is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blakes
    • Marseilles
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Wedron
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Wellington Heights ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wellington Heights.

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 Wellington Heights - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Woodlawn Memorial Park #1
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Hills of Rest Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Woodlawn Memorial Park #2
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • County Farm Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • St. John the Baptist Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. John the Baptist Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. John the Baptist Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Joliet.
    • The St. John the Baptist Cemetery has also been known as:
    • St. Johns Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #107908 <2>
  • Mt. Moriah Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Plainfield Twp. Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainfield Twp. Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Plainfield Twp. Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Plainfield.
    • The Plainfield Twp. Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Plainfield Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #244792 <2>
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Chapman Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Mary Immaculate Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (383 more) ...
    • Zarley Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zarley Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Zarley Cemetery is located in Joliet.
      • The Zarley Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Desplaines Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1269046 <2>
    • St. Patricks Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • St. Marys Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)

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 Wellington Heights in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Wellington Heights.

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

  • Coynes
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Coynes is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coynes
  • Caton Farm
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Caton Farm is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caton Farm
  • Joliet
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Walker
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Walker is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walker
  • Plainfield
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Minooka
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Millsdale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Millsdale is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millsdale
  • East Joliet
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • East Joliet is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Joliet
  • Normantown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Normantown is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normantown
  • Lockport
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Channahon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Drummond
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Drummond is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drummond
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Romeo
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Romeo is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romeo
    • Plattville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Plattville is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plattville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
    • White Willow ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • White Willow is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Willow

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

Newspapers Published in Wellington Heights ...

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 89 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wellington Heights.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wellington Heights, 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 Wellington Heights.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Wellington Heights:

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