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 Ridgewood (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 Ridgewood. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.
Ridgewood is located in Morgan 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 Morgan County: Brown, Hendricks, Johnson, Marion, Monroe, Owen & Putnam.
Below are the counties that are near Ridgewood. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Ridgewood:
- Morgan County (The home county of Ridgewood)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Young
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Young is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Young
- Mooresville
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Brookmoor
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Brookmoor is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookmoor
- Bethany
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Bethany is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethany
- Population from the 2020 Census: 88 people
- Brooklyn
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Red House ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Red House is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red House
- Lake Hart
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Lake Hart is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Hart
- Waverly
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Waverly is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverly
- Monrovia
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Wilbur
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Wilbur is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilbur
- Hall
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Hall is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hall
- Martinsville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Bartholomew County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Pleasant View Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Pleasant View Village is located in Bartholomew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View Village
- Taylorsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Boone County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Eagle Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Eagle Village is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Village
- Zionsville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Jamestown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Whitestown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Advance
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Advance is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Advance
- Population from the 2020 Census: 514 people
- Brown County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Spearsville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Spearsville is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spearsville
- Beanblossom
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Beanblossom is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beanblossom
- Beanblossom has also been known as:
- Bean Blossom
- Helmsburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Helmsburg is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helmsburg
- Nashville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Gnaw Bone
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Hamilton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- North Ridge Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- North Ridge Village is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Ridge Village
- Carmel
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Newark Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Newark Village is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newark Village
- Hancock County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- New Palestine
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Gem
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Gem is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gem
- Philadelphia
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Philadelphia is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Philadelphia
- Spring Lake
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Spring Lake is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 231 people
- Hendricks County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Plainfield
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Cartersburg
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Hazelwood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Hazelwood is located in Hendricks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazelwood
- Clayton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Avon
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Avon is located in Hendricks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 19,361 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Avon <1>
- Amo
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Danville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Stilesville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Hadley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Hadley is located in Hendricks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hadley
- Brownsburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Coatesville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- New Winchester
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- New Winchester is located in Hendricks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Winchester
- Johnson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Banta
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Banta is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banta
- Smith Valley
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Smith Valley is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Valley
- Bluff Creek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Bluff Creek is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff Creek
- Stones Crossing
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Stones Crossing is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stones Crossing
- Bargersville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Providence
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Providence is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Greenwood
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- New Whiteland
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- New Whiteland is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Whiteland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,350 people
- Whiteland
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Anita ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Anita is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anita
- Samaria
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Samaria is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samaria
- Trafalgar
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Marion County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Camby
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- West Newton
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- West Newton is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Newton
- Homecroft
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Homecroft is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homecroft
- Population from the 2020 Census: 764 people
- Southport
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Clermont
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Speedway
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Indianapolis
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Beech Grove
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Snacks
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Snacks is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snacks
- Wolfington
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Wolfington is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolfington
- Wynnedale
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Wynnedale is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wynnedale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 247 people
- Spring Hill
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Spring Hill is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Hill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 106 people
- Monroe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Unionville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Dolan
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Dolan is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dolan
- Stinesville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Stinesville is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stinesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 217 people
- Ellettsville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Owen County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Quincy
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Quincy is located in Owen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quincy
- Gosport
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Cuba
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Cuba is located in Owen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba
- Spencer
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Putnam County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Belle Union
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Belle Union is located in Putnam County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Union
- Fillmore
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Fillmore is located in Putnam County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fillmore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 531 people
- Groveland
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Groveland is located in Putnam County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groveland
- Cloverdale
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Barnard
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Barnard is located in Putnam County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnard
- Bainbridge
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Bainbridge is located in Putnam County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bainbridge
- Population from the 2020 Census: 743 people
- Greencastle
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Putnamville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Putnamville is located in Putnam County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Putnamville
- Limedale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Limedale is located in Putnam County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limedale
- Roachdale
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Shelby County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Brookfield
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Brookfield is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield
- Boggstown
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- London
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- London is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for London
- Clover Village
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Clover Village is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Village
- Fairland
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Mount Auburn
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Auburn is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Auburn
- Beech Brook
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Beech Brook is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Brook
- Candleglo Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Candleglo Village is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Candleglo Village
- Hildebrand Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Hildebrand Village is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hildebrand Village
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Ridgewood, see our County-by-County Page for Ridgewood.
Cemeteries Near Ridgewood ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ridgewood.
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 Ridgewood - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Ridgewood covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Mooresville Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- White Lick Friends Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Silon Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Bethesda Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Brooklyn Rest Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Monical Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Ramsey Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Brooklyn Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Mt. Olive Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Fairfield Friends Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Lick Branch Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- MacKenzie Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (446 more) ...
- Sugar Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- West Newton Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Friends Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
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 Ridgewood in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Ridgewood.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Mooresville
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Friendswood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Friendswood is located in Hendricks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendswood
- Brooklyn
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Camby
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Joppa
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Joppa is located in Hendricks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa
- Gasburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Gasburg is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gasburg
- Waverly
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Waverly is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverly
- Landersdale
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Landersdale is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landersdale
- West Newton
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- West Newton is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Newton
- Monrovia
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Plainfield
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Exchange
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Exchange is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exchange
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Banta
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Banta is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banta
- Valley Mills
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Valley Mills is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Mills
- Bluff Creek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Bluff Creek is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff Creek
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Ridgewood. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ridgewood.
Newspapers Published in Ridgewood ...
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 384 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ridgewood.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ridgewood, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ridgewood.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Ridgewood:
- Websites specific to Indiana
- Pages specific to Morgan County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bartholomew County
- Boone County
- Brown County
- Hamilton County
- Hancock County
- Hendricks County
- Johnson County
- Marion County
- Monroe County
- Owen County
- Putnam County
- Shelby County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Indiana
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 Ridgewood, 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- Ridgewood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |