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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 Hilltop (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 Hilltop. 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 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.

Hilltop is located in Anoka County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Anoka County: Chisago, Hennepin, Isanti, Ramsey, Sherburne & Washington.

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

  • Anoka County     (The home county of Hilltop)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hilltop, with the one closest to Hilltop listed first.
    • Columbia Heights
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Fridley
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Spring Lake Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Lexington
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Coon Creek
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Coon Creek is located in Anoka County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coon Creek
    • Circle Pines
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Blaine
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Coon Rapids
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Lino Lakes
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Anoka
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Centerville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Andover
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Ham Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Carver County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hilltop, with the one closest to Hilltop listed first.
    • Chanhassen
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Hazeltine
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Hazeltine is located in Carver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazeltine
    • Victoria
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Chaska
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Carver
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Dahlgren
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Dahlgren is located in Carver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dahlgren
    • Watertown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Waconia
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Chisago County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hilltop, with the one closest to Hilltop listed first.
    • Wyoming
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Stacy
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Stacy is located in Chisago County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stacy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,525 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stacy <1>
    • Chisago City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Lindstrom
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Dakota County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hilltop, with the one closest to Hilltop listed first.
    • Lilydale
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Lilydale is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lilydale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 838 people
    • West Saint Paul
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Mendota
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Mendota Heights
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Sunfish Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Eagan
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Eagan is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 65,975 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eagan <1>
    • Nicols
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Nicols is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicols
    • South Saint Paul
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Inver Grove Heights
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Burnsville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Apple Valley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Rosemount
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Coates
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Coates is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coates
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
  • Hennepin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hilltop, with the one closest to Hilltop listed first.
    • Saint Anthony
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Brooklyn Center
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Robbinsdale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Minneapolis
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Crystal
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Brooklyn Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Golden Valley
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • New Hope
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Osseo
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Osseo is located in Hennepin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osseo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,703 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Osseo <1>
    • Saint Louis Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Medicine Lake
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Maple Grove
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Plymouth
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Isanti County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hilltop, with the one closest to Hilltop listed first.
    • Crown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Crown is located in Isanti County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crown
    • Weber
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Weber is located in Isanti County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weber
    • Isanti
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Ramsey County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hilltop, with the one closest to Hilltop listed first.
    • New Brighton
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Arden Hills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Mounds View
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Lauderdale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Lauderdale is located in Ramsey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lauderdale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,484 people
    • Shoreview
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Falcon Heights
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Roseville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Cardigan Junction
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Cardigan Junction is located in Ramsey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardigan Junction
    • Little Canada
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • North Oaks
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Vadnais Heights
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Gem Lake
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Gem Lake is located in Ramsey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gem Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 536 people
    • Saint Paul
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Scott County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hilltop, with the one closest to Hilltop listed first.
    • Savage
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Shakopee
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Prior Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Credit River
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Credit River is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Credit River
    • Marystown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Marystown is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marystown
  • Sherburne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hilltop, with the one closest to Hilltop listed first.
    • Elk River
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Big Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hilltop, with the one closest to Hilltop listed first.
    • Birchwood Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Birchwood Village is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birchwood Village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 880 people
    • Dellwood
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Dellwood is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dellwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,120 people
    • Mahtomedi
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Oakdale
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Oakdale is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakdale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,773 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oakdale <1>
    • Pine Springs
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Pine Springs is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Springs
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 390 people
    • Willernie
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Hugo
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Hugo is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hugo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,452 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hugo <1>
    • Landfall
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Landfall is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landfall
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 733 people
    • Grant
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Grant is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,107 people
    • Duluth Junction
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Duluth Junction is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duluth Junction
    • Withrow
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Withrow is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Withrow
    • Newport
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Elmo
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Wright County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hilltop, with the one closest to Hilltop listed first.
    • Hanover
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Albertville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Otsego
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Michael
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Rockford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Delano
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Pierce County (WI)
    • Prescott
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Prescott is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescott
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,279 people
  • Saint Croix County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hilltop, with the one closest to Hilltop listed first.
    • North Hudson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • North Hudson is located in Saint Croix County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Hudson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,833 people
    • Hudson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Hudson is located in Saint Croix County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,168 people
    • Burkhardt
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Burkhardt is located in Saint Croix County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burkhardt
    • Somerset
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Somerset is located in Saint Croix County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerset
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,992 people

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

Cemeteries Near Hilltop ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hilltop.

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 Hilltop - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Sacred Heart of Jesus Polish National Catholic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Sacred Heart Polish National Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • St. Anthony Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • St. Mary's Orthodox Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • St. John the Baptist Catholic Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Crystal Lake Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Hillside Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Minneapolis.
    • The Hillside Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Washburn - McReavy Hillside Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #82513 <2>
  • Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Minneapolis.
    • The Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Sunset Cemetery
    • Sunset Memorial Cemetery
    • Sunset Memorial Park
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #83665 <2>
  • Mound Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Glenhaven Memorial Garden Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Gethsemane Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Beth-el Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (303 more) ...

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 Hilltop in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Hilltop.

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

  • Fridley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • New Brighton
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Robbinsdale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Mounds View
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Brooklyn Center
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Crystal
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Minneapolis
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Cardigan Junction
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Cardigan Junction is located in Ramsey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardigan Junction
  • Coon Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Coon Creek is located in Anoka County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coon Creek
  • Saint Louis Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Little Canada
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Osseo
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Osseo is located in Hennepin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osseo
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,703 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Osseo <1>
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Plymouth
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Saint Paul
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Gladstone
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Gladstone is located in Ramsey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladstone

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

Newspapers Published in Hilltop ...

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 423 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hilltop.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hilltop, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hilltop.

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 Hilltop:

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 Hilltop, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Hilltop) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.