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 Ridgeway (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 Ridgeway. 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 doctors 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.
Ridgeway is located in Winona 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 Winona County: Fillmore, Houston, Olmsted, Wabasha, Buffalo (WI), La Crosse (WI) & Trempealeau (WI).
Below are the counties that are near Ridgeway. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Ridgeway:
- Winona County (The home county of Ridgeway)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgeway, with the one closest to Ridgeway listed first.
- Nodine
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Nodine is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nodine
- Homer
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Homer is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
- Lamoille
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Lamoille is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamoille
- Wilson
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Wilson is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
- Dakota
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Dakota is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dakota
- Population from the 2020 Census: 307 people
- Winona
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Wyattville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Wyattville is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyattville
- Goodview
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Goodview is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,127 people
- Stockton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Stockton is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 773 people
- Minnesota City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Lewiston
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Rollingstone
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Utica
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Fillmore County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgeway, with the one closest to Ridgeway listed first.
- Rushford
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- South Rushford
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- South Rushford is located in Fillmore County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Rushford
- Rushford Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Rushford Village is located in Fillmore County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rushford Village
- Population from the 2020 Census: 838 people
- Bratsberg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bratsberg is located in Fillmore County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bratsberg
- Peterson
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Whalan
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Lanesboro
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Newburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Newburg is located in Fillmore County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
- Mabel
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Fountain
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Preston
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Houston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgeway, with the one closest to Ridgeway listed first.
- Money Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Money Creek is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Money Creek
- Houston
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- La Crescent
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Hokah
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Yucatan
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Yucatan is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yucatan
- Caledonia
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Brownsville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Brownsville is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 505 people
- Willington Grove
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Willington Grove is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willington Grove
- Riceford
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Riceford is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riceford
- Spring Grove
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Wilmington
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Wilmington is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmington
- Reno
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Reno is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reno
- Bee
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Bee is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee
- Olmsted County
- Dover
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Wabasha County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgeway, with the one closest to Ridgeway listed first.
- Minneiska
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Weaver
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Weaver is located in Wabasha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weaver
- Allamakee County (IA)
- Dorchester
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Buffalo County (WI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgeway, with the one closest to Ridgeway listed first.
- Bluff Siding
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Bluff Siding is located in Buffalo County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff Siding
- Marshland
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Marshland is located in Buffalo County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshland
- Fountain City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Fountain City is located in Buffalo County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 842 people
- Cochrane
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Cochrane is located in Buffalo County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochrane
- Population from the 2020 Census: 409 people
- Anchorage ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Anchorage is located in Buffalo County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchorage
- Buffalo City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Buffalo City is located in Buffalo County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 948 people
- Buffalo
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Buffalo is located in Buffalo County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
- Waumandee
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Waumandee is located in Buffalo County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waumandee
- Montana
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Montana is located in Buffalo County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montana
- Jackson County (WI)
- North Bend
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- North Bend is located in Jackson County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bend
- La Crosse County (WI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgeway, with the one closest to Ridgeway listed first.
- Brice Prairie
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Brice Prairie is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brice Prairie
- French Island
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- French Island is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Island
- Holmen
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Holmen is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmen
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,368 people
- Midway
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Midway is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
- La Crosse
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- La Crosse is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Crosse
- Population from the 2020 Census: 51,163 people
- North La Crosse
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- North La Crosse is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North La Crosse
- Onalaska
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Onalaska is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onalaska
- Population from the 2020 Census: 19,108 people
- Grand Crossing
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Grand Crossing is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Crossing
- Barre Mills
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Barre Mills is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barre Mills
- Shelby
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Shelby is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelby
- Mindoro
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Mindoro is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mindoro
- West Salem
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- West Salem is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Salem
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,013 people
- Saint Joseph
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Saint Joseph is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Joseph
- Trempealeau County (WI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgeway, with the one closest to Ridgeway listed first.
- Trempealeau
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Trempealeau is located in Trempealeau County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trempealeau
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,663 people
- Wrights Corners
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Wrights Corners is located in Trempealeau County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrights Corners
- Galesville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Galesville is located in Trempealeau County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,602 people
- Frenchville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Frenchville is located in Trempealeau County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchville
- Arcadia
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Arcadia is located in Trempealeau County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcadia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,026 people
- Ettrick
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Ettrick is located in Trempealeau County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ettrick
- Population from the 2020 Census: 511 people
- New City ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- New City is located in Trempealeau County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New City
- Vernon County (WI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgeway, with the one closest to Ridgeway listed first.
- Stoddard
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Stoddard is located in Vernon County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoddard
- Population from the 2020 Census: 831 people
- Chaseburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Chaseburg is located in Vernon County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chaseburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 291 people
- Genoa
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Genoa is located in Vernon County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genoa
- Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
- Coon Valley
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Coon Valley is located in Vernon County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coon Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 782 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Ridgeway, see our County-by-County Page for Ridgeway.
Cemeteries Near Ridgeway ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ridgeway.
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 Ridgeway - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Ridgeway covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Ridgeway, with the one closest to Ridgeway listed first.
- St. Patricks Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Cedar Valley Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Hillside Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Bush Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Witoka Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Old Money Creek Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant Valley Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Lutheran Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Hiler Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hiler Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Hiler Cemetery is located outside and to the north of Nodine.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #82497 <2>
- Wilson Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Money Creek Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Sheldon Family Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (222 more) ...
- Immaculate Conception Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Omodt Family Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Looney Valley Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Ridgeway had a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Ridgeway, with the one closest to Ridgeway listed first.
- Witoka
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Witoka is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Witoka
- New Hartford
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- New Hartford is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hartford
- Pickwick
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Pickwick is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickwick
- Money Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Money Creek is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Money Creek
- Lamoille
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Lamoille is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamoille
- Homer
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Homer is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
- Wilson
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Wilson is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
- Sugarloaf
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Sugarloaf is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugarloaf
- Hart
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Hart is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hart
- East Winona
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- East Winona is located in Buffalo County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Winona
- Trempealeau
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Trempealeau is located in Trempealeau County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trempealeau
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,663 people
- Houston
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Winona
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Dresbach
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Dresbach is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dresbach
- Dakota
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Dakota is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dakota
- Population from the 2020 Census: 307 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Ridgeway. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ridgeway.
Newspapers Published in Ridgeway ...
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 146 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ridgeway.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ridgeway, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ridgeway.
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 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 Ridgeway:
- Websites specific to Minnesota
- Pages specific to Winona County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Fillmore County
- Houston County
- Olmsted County
- Wabasha County
- Allamakee County
- Buffalo County
- Jackson County
- La Crosse County
- Trempealeau County
- Vernon County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Minnesota
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 Ridgeway, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Ridgeway) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |