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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 Pottawattamie Park (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 Pottawattamie Park. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.

Pottawattamie Park is located in LaPorte County.

To see how the shape of Indiana's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of LaPorte County: Jasper, Porter, Saint Joseph, Starke & Berrien (MI).

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

  • LaPorte County     (The home county of Pottawattamie Park)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pottawattamie Park, with the one closest to Pottawattamie Park listed first.
    • Long Beach
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Trail Creek
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Trail Creek is located in LaPorte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trail Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,985 people
    • Michigan City
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Michiana Shores
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Waterford
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Waterford is located in LaPorte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterford
    • Holmesville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Holmesville is located in LaPorte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmesville
    • Otis
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Otis is located in LaPorte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otis
    • Hesston
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Hesston is located in LaPorte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hesston
    • Smith
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Smith is located in LaPorte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith
    • La Porte
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Door Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Door Village is located in LaPorte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Door Village
    • Westville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Rolling Prairie
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pottawattamie Park, with the one closest to Pottawattamie Park listed first.
    • Duneland Village of Gary
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Lake Station
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Duneland Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Duneland Village is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duneland Village
    • Hobart
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • New Chicago
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • New Chicago is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Chicago
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,937 people
    • Deep River
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Deep River is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep River
    • Liverpool
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Liverpool is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liverpool
    • Gary
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Gary is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 74,693 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gary <1>
    • Green Acres
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Green Acres is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
    • Lakes of the Four Seasons
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Merrillville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Lottaville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Lottaville is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lottaville
    • Ross
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Ross is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ross
  • Porter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pottawattamie Park, with the one closest to Pottawattamie Park listed first.
    • Town-of-Pines
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Town-of-Pines is located in Porter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town-of-Pines
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 688 people
    • Beverly Shores
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Chesterton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Dune Acres
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Dune Acres is located in Porter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dune Acres
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 182 people
    • Porter
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Tratebas Mill
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Tratebas Mill is located in Porter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tratebas Mill
    • Burns Harbor
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Suman
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Suman is located in Porter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suman
    • Babcock
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Babcock is located in Porter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babcock
    • South Haven
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • South Haven is located in Porter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Haven
    • Willow Creek
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Willow Creek is located in Porter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Creek
    • Ogden Dunes
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Ogden Dunes is located in Porter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogden Dunes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,083 people
    • Portage
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Saint Joseph County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pottawattamie Park, with the one closest to Pottawattamie Park listed first.
    • New Carlisle
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Zeigler
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Zeigler is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zeigler
    • Crumstown
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Crumstown is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crumstown
    • North Liberty
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Walkerton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Starke County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pottawattamie Park, with the one closest to Pottawattamie Park listed first.
    • Hamlet
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Koontz Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Koontz Lake is located in Starke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Koontz Lake
    • Grovertown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Grovertown is located in Starke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grovertown
  • Berrien County (MI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pottawattamie Park, with the one closest to Pottawattamie Park listed first.
    • Michiana
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Grand Beach
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Grand Beach is located in Berrien County (MI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Beach
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
    • New Buffalo
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Union Pier
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Lakeside
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Lakeside is located in Berrien County (MI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
    • Three Oaks
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Harbert
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Avery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Avery is located in Berrien County (MI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avery
    • Hazelhurst
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Hazelhurst is located in Berrien County (MI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazelhurst
    • Shorewood - Tower Hills - Harbert
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Sawyer
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Galien
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Galien is located in Berrien County (MI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galien
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 527 people
    • New Troy
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Pottawattamie Park ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pottawattamie Park.

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 Pottawattamie Park - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • St. Stanislaus Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Swan Lake Memorial Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Cross Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Sharp Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Lows Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Beattys Corner Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Pine Lake Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Rossburg Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Shippeeburg Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Furnessville Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (129 more) ...
    • Eight Square Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Quaker Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Heckman Memorial Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 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 Pottawattamie Park in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Pottawattamie Park.

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

  • Michigan City
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Waterford
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Waterford is located in LaPorte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterford
  • Oakwood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Oakwood is located in LaPorte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
  • Otis
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Otis is located in LaPorte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otis
  • Holmesville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Holmesville is located in LaPorte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmesville
  • New Buffalo
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Durham
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Durham is located in LaPorte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durham
  • Burdick
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Burdick is located in Porter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burdick
  • La Porte
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Hesston
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Hesston is located in LaPorte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hesston
  • Door Village
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Door Village is located in LaPorte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Door Village
  • Union Pier
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Porter
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Chesterton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Westville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Pottawattamie Park ...

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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pottawattamie Park.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pottawattamie Park, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Pottawattamie Park.

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 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 Pottawattamie Park:

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