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 Willowbrook (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 Willowbrook. 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 Willowbrook ...
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.
Another variation: Willow Brook.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Willowbrook. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Willowbrook.
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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Willowbrook 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 Willowbrook. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Willowbrook:
- Will County (The home county of Willowbrook)
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- Crete
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Steger
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Goodenow
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Goodenow is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodenow
- Beecher
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- University Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Monee
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Frankfort Square
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Frankfort Square is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankfort Square
- Peotone
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Frankfort
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Mokena
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Gilletts ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Gilletts is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilletts
- Wallingford
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Wallingford is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallingford
- Brisbane
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Brisbane is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brisbane
- Cook County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- Sauk Village
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Lynwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Ford Heights
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- South Chicago Heights
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- South Chicago Heights is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Chicago Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,957 people
- Chicago Heights
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Lansing
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Glenwood
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Park Forest
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Thornton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Globe
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Globe is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe
- Flossmoor
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Homewood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Olympia Fields
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- DuPage County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- Tedens ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Tedens is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tedens
- Willowbrook
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Darien
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Kankakee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- Sherburnville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Sherburnville is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherburnville
- Grant Park
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Grant Park is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,231 people
- Illinoi
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Illinoi is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illinoi
- Illiana Heights
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Illiana Heights is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illiana Heights
- Litchfield
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Litchfield is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Litchfield
- Momence
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Manteno
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Saint George
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Saint George is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint George
- Bourbonnais
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bradley
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Sun River Terrace
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Sun River Terrace is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun River Terrace
- Population from the 2020 Census: 488 people
- Hopkins Park
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Hopkins Park is located in Kankakee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopkins Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 608 people
- Hopkins Park has also been known as:
- Hopkins Park village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hopkins Park <1>
- Kankakee
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Jasper County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- Forest City
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Forest City is located in Jasper County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
- DeMotte
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- DeMotte is located in Jasper County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeMotte
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,172 people
- DeMotte has also been known as:
- De Motte
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for DeMotte <1>
- Stoutsburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Stoutsburg is located in Jasper County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoutsburg
- Fair Oaks
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Virgie
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Virgie is located in Jasper County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgie
- Lake County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- Dyer
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Dyer is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyer
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15,955 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dyer <1>
- Saint John
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Hartsdale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Hartsdale is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartsdale
- Schererville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- New Elliott
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- New Elliott is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Elliott
- Munster
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Griffith
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Highland
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Cedar Lake
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Lincoln Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Lincoln Village is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Village
- Crown Point
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Lottaville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Lottaville is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lottaville
- Hammond
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Newton County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- Sumava Resorts
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Lake Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Lake Village is located in Newton County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Village
- Thayer
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Thayer is located in Newton County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thayer
- Roselawn
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Roselawn is located in Newton County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roselawn
- Porter County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- Wheeler
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Wheeler is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler
- Porter Crossroads
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Porter Crossroads is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter Crossroads
- Hebron
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Portage
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Willow Creek
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Willow Creek is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Creek
- Woodland Village
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Woodland Village is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Village
- South Haven
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- South Haven is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Haven
- Ogden Dunes
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Ogden Dunes is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogden Dunes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,083 people
- Boone Grove
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Boone Grove is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boone Grove
- Babcock
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Babcock is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babcock
- Aylesworth
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Aylesworth is located in Porter County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aylesworth
- Valparaiso
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Burns Harbor
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Willowbrook, see our County-by-County Page for Willowbrook.
Cemeteries Near Willowbrook ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Willowbrook.
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 Willowbrook - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Willowbrook covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- St. James Catholic Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Beebe's Grove Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beebe's Grove Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Beebe's Grove Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<2> to the east of Crete.
- The Beebe's Grove Cemetery has also been known as:
- Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
- Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
- Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2288139 <3>
- Eagle Lake Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Lake Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Eagle Lake Cemetery is located 5 miles [8 km]<2> to the northeast of Beecher.
- The Eagle Lake Cemetery has also been known as:
- North Cemetery
- St. John Lutheran Church North Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #105482 <3>
- Zion Evangelical Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Hack Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- St. John Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- St. Michael Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Crete Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crete Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Crete Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Crete.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2335374 <3>
- Trinity Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<2> to the south of Crete.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #108588 <3>
- Zion Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Continue List (274 more) ...
- Zion Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- St. Johns Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Chapel Lawn Memorial Gardens 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.<4>
While we didn't find Willowbrook in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Willowbrook.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Willowbrook, with the one closest to Willowbrook listed first.
- Dyer
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Dyer is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyer
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15,955 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dyer <1>
- Saint John
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Crete
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Hartsdale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Hartsdale is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartsdale
- Brunswick
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Brunswick is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brunswick
- Schererville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Maynard
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Maynard is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maynard
- Goodenow
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Goodenow is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodenow
- Eagle Lake
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Eagle Lake is located in Will County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Lake
- Chicago Heights
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Klaasville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Klaasville is located in Lake County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klaasville
- Lansing
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Cedar Lake
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Griffith
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Highland
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Willowbrook. See our List of 1890's Communities around Willowbrook.
Newspapers Published in Willowbrook ...
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 96 newspapers that have been published in the area around Willowbrook.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Willowbrook, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Willowbrook.
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 Willowbrook:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Will County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cook County
- DuPage County
- Kankakee County
- Jasper County
- Lake County
- Newton County
- Porter 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Willowbrook) 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 Willowbrook, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |