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 Wildwood Valley (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 Wildwood Valley. 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 Wildwood Valley ...
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 Wildwood Valley: Wildwood Vly. (or less commonly used: Wildwood Vally. or Wildwood Vlly.)
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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals 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.
Wildwood Valley is located in Kane 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 Kane County: Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Kendall, McHenry & Will.
Below are the counties that are near Wildwood Valley. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Wildwood Valley:
- Kane County (The home county of Wildwood Valley)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wildwood Valley, with the one closest to Wildwood Valley listed first.
- Gilberts
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Sleepy Hollow
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- West Dundee
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Pingree Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Plato Center
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Elgin
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Freeman
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Freeman is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
- Starks
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Starks is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starks
- Bowes Bend
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Bowes Bend is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowes Bend
- North Plato
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- North Plato is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Plato
- Carpentersville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- South Elgin
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- South Elgin is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elgin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 24,646 people
- Boone County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wildwood Valley, with the one closest to Wildwood Valley listed first.
- Herbert
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Herbert is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herbert
- Garden Prairie
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Belvidere
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Russellville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Russellville is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russellville
- Irene
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Irene is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irene
- Capron
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cook County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wildwood Valley, with the one closest to Wildwood Valley listed first.
- Streamwood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Barrington Hills
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Barrington Hills is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,152 people
- Hoffman Estates
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- South Barrington
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- South Barrington is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Barrington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,976 people
- Hanover Park
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Barrington
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Inverness
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Schaumburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Fairfax Village
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Fairfax Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax Village
- Palatine
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Plum Grove Village
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Plum Grove Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Grove Village
- Rolling Meadows
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- DeKalb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wildwood Valley, with the one closest to Wildwood Valley listed first.
- New Lebanon
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- New Lebanon is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lebanon
- Charter Grove
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Charter Grove is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charter Grove
- Genoa
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Sycamore
(16 miles [25.7 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
- Cortland
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Brush Point ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Brush Point is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Point
- Coltonville ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Coltonville is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coltonville
- Kingston
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- De Kalb
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Clare
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Elva
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Elva is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elva
- Hinckley
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- DuPage County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wildwood Valley, with the one closest to Wildwood Valley listed first.
- Wayne
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Bartlett
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Ingalton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Ingalton is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingalton
- Keeneyville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Keeneyville is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keeneyville
- West Chicago
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- West Chicago is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chicago
- Population from the 2020 Census: 26,593 people
- Roselle
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Carol Stream
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Cloverdale
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Cloverdale is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Bloomingdale
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Medinah
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Winfield
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Glendale Heights
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Kendall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wildwood Valley, with the one closest to Wildwood Valley listed first.
- Montgomery
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Boulder Hill
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Boulder Hill is located in Kendall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder Hill
- 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
- Bristol
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Oswego
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Yorkville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Plano
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Lake County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wildwood Valley, with the one closest to Wildwood Valley listed first.
- Lake Barrington
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Barrington is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Barrington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,840 people
- Fox River Valley Gardens
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- North Barrington
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- North Barrington is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Barrington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,938 people
- Port Barrington
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- 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
- Deer Park
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Tower Lakes
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Tower Lakes is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Lakes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,219 people
- Lake Zurich
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Kildeer
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Wauconda
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Forest Lake
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Forest Lake is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lake
- Hawthorn Woods
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Gilmer
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Gilmer is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilmer
- McHenry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wildwood Valley, with the one closest to Wildwood Valley listed first.
- Huntley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Algonquin
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Lake-in-the-Hills
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Crystal Lake
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Lakewood
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Trout Valley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Trout Valley is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trout Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 508 people
- Cary
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Fox River Grove
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Ridgefield
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Ridgefield is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgefield
- Oakwood Hills
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Oakwood Hills is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,011 people
- Union
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Barreville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Barreville is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barreville
- Will County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wildwood Valley, with the one closest to Wildwood Valley listed first.
- Winston Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Winston Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston Village
- Normantown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Normantown is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normantown
- Bloomfield Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bloomfield Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomfield Village
- Bolingbrook
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Colonial Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Colonial Village is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
- Walworth County (WI)
- Genoa City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Genoa City is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genoa City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,981 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Wildwood Valley, see our County-by-County Page for Wildwood Valley.
Cemeteries Near Wildwood Valley ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wildwood Valley.
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 Wildwood Valley - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Wildwood Valley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Wildwood Valley, with the one closest to Wildwood Valley listed first.
- Udina Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Udina Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Udina Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 4 miles [6.4 km]<2> to the west of Elgin.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1981683 <3>
- Apostolic Christian Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Washington Memorial Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Elgin State Hospital Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- River Valley Memorial Gardens
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Starks Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starks Cemetery
- The Starks Cemetery has also been known as:
- Old Stark's Cemetery
- North Plato Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Dundee Twp. Cemetery West
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dundee Twp. Cemetery West
- The Dundee Twp. Cemetery West has also been known as:
- Dundee Twp. West Cemetery
- Prairie Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Bluff City Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Bluff City Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Elgin.
- The Bluff City Cemetery has also been known as:
- Bluff City Boulevard Cemetery
- Elgin City Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2163487 <3>
- Mt. Hope Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Hope Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mt. Hope Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Elgin.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #107039 <3>
- Continue List (377 more) ...
- Mt. Hope Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Dundee Twp. Cemetery East
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Buena Vista Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
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>
While we didn't find Wildwood Valley in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Wildwood Valley.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Wildwood Valley, with the one closest to Wildwood Valley listed first.
- McQueen
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- McQueen is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McQueen
- Udina
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Udina is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Udina
- Almora
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Almora is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almora
- Gilberts
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Plato Center
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Pingree Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Elgin
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- North Plato
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- North Plato is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Plato
- Freeman
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Freeman is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
- Youngsdale
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Youngsdale is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Youngsdale
- South Elgin
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- South Elgin is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elgin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 24,646 people
- Carpentersville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Coleman
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Coleman is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman
- Clintonville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Clintonville is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clintonville
- Huntley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Wildwood Valley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Wildwood Valley.
Newspapers Published in Wildwood Valley ...
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 155 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wildwood Valley.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wildwood Valley, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wildwood Valley.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Wildwood Valley:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Kane County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Boone County
- Cook County
- DeKalb County
- DuPage County
- Kendall County
- Lake County
- McHenry County
- Will County
- Walworth County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Illinois
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> | 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- Wildwood Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Wildwood Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |