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 Woods (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 Woods. 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 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.
Woods is located in Madison 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 Madison County: Bond, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Montgomery, Saint Clair, Saint Charles (MO), Saint Louis City (MO) & Saint Louis (MO).
Below are the counties that are near Woods. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Woods:
- Madison County (The home county of Woods)
- The following are listed by their distance from Woods, with the one closest to Woods listed first.
- Cottage Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Cottage Hills is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Hills
- Belmont Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Belmont Village is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont Village
- East Alton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- East Alton is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Alton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,922 people
- Bethalto
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Rosewood Heights
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Rosewood Heights is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosewood Heights
- Alton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Altamont
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Moro
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Godfrey
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Dorsey
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Wood River
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Melville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Melville is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melville
- Hartford
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Bond County
- The following are listed by their distance from Woods, with the one closest to Woods listed first.
- Old Ripley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Old Ripley is located in Bond County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Ripley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
- Sorento
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Pierron
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Calhoun County
- The following are listed by their distance from Woods, with the one closest to Woods listed first.
- Deer Plain
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Deer Plain is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Plain
- Golden Eagle
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Brussels
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Batchtown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Hardin
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Greene County
- The following are listed by their distance from Woods, with the one closest to Woods listed first.
- Kane
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Rockbridge
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Mid City ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Mid City is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mid City
- Greenfield
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Carrollton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Woody
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Woody is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woody
- East Hardin
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- East Hardin is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Hardin
- Jersey County
- The following are listed by their distance from Woods, with the one closest to Woods listed first.
- Delhi
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Delhi is located in Jersey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delhi
- McClusky
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- McClusky is located in Jersey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McClusky
- Dow
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Elsah
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Fidelity
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Chautauqua
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Chautauqua is located in Jersey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chautauqua
- Jerseyville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Otterville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Otterville is located in Jersey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otterville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
- Grafton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Fieldon
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Nutwood
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Nutwood is located in Jersey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nutwood
- Spankey
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Spankey is located in Jersey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spankey
- Macoupin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Woods, with the one closest to Woods listed first.
- Brighton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Miles Station
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Miles Station is located in Macoupin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miles Station
- Piasa
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Bunker Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Shipman
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Royal Lakes
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Royal Lakes is located in Macoupin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Lakes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 185 people
- Royal Lakes has also been known as:
- Royal Lakes village
- Dorchester
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Dorchester is located in Macoupin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorchester
- Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
- Medora
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Summerville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Summerville is located in Macoupin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerville
- Plainview
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Wilsonville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Staunton
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Challacombe
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Challacombe is located in Macoupin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Challacombe
- Montgomery County
- The following are listed by their distance from Woods, with the one closest to Woods listed first.
- Walshville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Litchfield
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Woods, with the one closest to Woods listed first.
- Brooklyn
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Brooklyn is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 687 people
- Fairmont City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Fairmont City is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmont City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,439 people
- National City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Caseyville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- East Saint Louis
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Washington Park
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Washington Park is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washington Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,831 people
- Bunkum
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Bunkum is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunkum
- Alorton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- French Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- French Village is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Village
- Sauget
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Cahokia
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Centreville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Centreville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centreville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,844 people
- Fairview Heights
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Saint Charles County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Woods, with the one closest to Woods listed first.
- West Alton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Portage Des Sioux
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Gardnerville
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Gardnerville is located in Saint Charles County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardnerville
- Saint Charles
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Harvester
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Saint Peters
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Saint Louis City (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Woods, with the one closest to Woods listed first.
- Baden
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Baden is located in Saint Louis City (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baden
- Saint Louis
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- University City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- University City is located in Saint Louis City (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 34,049 people
- Cheltenham
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Cheltenham is located in Saint Louis City (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheltenham
- Tower Grove
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Tower Grove is located in Saint Louis City (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Grove
- Carondelet
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Carondelet is located in Saint Louis City (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carondelet
- Saint Louis County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Woods, with the one closest to Woods listed first.
- Spanish Lake
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Spanish Lake is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Lake
- Black Jack
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Black Jack is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Jack
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,921 people
- Glasgow Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Glasgow Village is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glasgow Village
- Riverview
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Riverview is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,821 people
- Bellefontaine Neighbors
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Bellefontaine Neighbors is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellefontaine Neighbors
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,297 people
- Castle Point
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Castle Point is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Point
- Calverton Park
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Calverton Park is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calverton Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,267 people
- Dellwood
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Dellwood is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dellwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,994 people
- Florissant
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Florissant is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florissant
- Population from the 2020 Census: 50,795 people
- Moline Acres
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Moline Acres is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moline Acres
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,339 people
- Ferguson
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Ferguson is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferguson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 20,457 people
- Berkeley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Berkeley is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkeley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,892 people
- Country Club Hills
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Country Club Hills is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Club Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,245 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Woods, see our County-by-County Page for Woods.
Cemeteries Near Woods ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Woods.
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 Woods - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Woods covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Woods, with the one closest to Woods listed first.
- Salem Baptist Church Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Oakwood Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Alton State Hospital Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Short Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Ingersol Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- St. Josephs Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Fosterburg Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Bethany Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Godfrey City Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Confederate Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (454 more) ...
- Alton Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Alton Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Alton.
- The Alton Cemetery has also been known as:
- Alton National Cemetery
- Grandview Cemetery
- Lovejoy Cemetery
- Lovejoy Memorial Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #640635 <2>
- East Alton Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Milton Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
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 Woods in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Woods.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Woods, with the one closest to Woods listed first.
- Upper Alton
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Upper Alton is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Alton
- Fosterburg
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Fosterburg is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fosterburg
- North Alton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- North Alton is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Alton
- Alton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Bethalto
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Moro
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Godfrey
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Dorsey
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Brighton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Melville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Melville is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melville
- Wanda
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Wanda is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wanda
- Miles Station
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Miles Station is located in Macoupin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miles Station
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Delhi
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Delhi is located in Jersey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delhi
- Prairietown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Prairietown is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairietown
- Piasa
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Woods. See our List of 1890's Communities around Woods.
Newspapers Published in Woods ...
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 139 newspapers that have been published in the area around Woods.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Woods, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Woods.
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 Woods:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Madison County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bond County
- Calhoun County
- Greene County
- Jersey County
- Macoupin County
- Montgomery County
- Saint Clair County
- Saint Charles County
- Saint Louis City
- Saint Louis 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> | 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 Woods, 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' (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- Woods) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |