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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 Willington Grove (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 Willington Grove. 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.

Name Variations for Willington Grove ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Willington Grove: Willington Grv.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 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.

Willington Grove is located in Houston County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Houston County: Allamakee (IA), Winneshiek (IA), Fillmore, Winona, La Crosse (WI) & Vernon (WI).

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

  • Houston County     (The home county of Willington Grove)
  • Fillmore County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Willington Grove, with the one closest to Willington Grove listed first.
    • Mabel
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Newburg
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Bratsberg
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • South Rushford
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Canton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Canton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canton
      • Canton is located in Fillmore County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 342 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Canton <3>
    • Rushford Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rushford Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rushford Village
      • Rushford Village is located in Fillmore County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 838 people
    • Rushford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rushford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rushford
      • Rushford is located in Fillmore County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,695 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rushford <3>
    • Peterson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peterson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peterson
      • Peterson is located in Fillmore County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 198 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Peterson <3>
    • Whalan
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whalan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whalan
      • Whalan is located in Fillmore County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 66 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Whalan <3>
    • Harmony
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Lanesboro
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Preston
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Granger
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Granger. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granger
      • Granger is located in Fillmore County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Granger
      • From Willington Grove to Granger
  • Winona County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Willington Grove, with the one closest to Willington Grove listed first.
    • Nodine
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Dakota
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dakota have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dakota
      • Dakota is located in Winona County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 307 people
    • Wilson
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wilson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
      • Wilson is located in Winona County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wilson
      • From Willington Grove to Wilson
    • Wyattville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Lamoille
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Clyde
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Homer
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Homer have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
      • Homer is located in Winona County
  • Allamakee County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Willington Grove, with the one closest to Willington Grove listed first.
    • Quandahl
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Quandahl. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quandahl
      • Quandahl is located in Allamakee County (IA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Quandahl
      • From Willington Grove to Quandahl
    • Dorchester
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • New Albin
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Lycurgus
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lycurgus. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lycurgus
      • Lycurgus is located in Allamakee County (IA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lycurgus
      • From Willington Grove to Lycurgus
    • Waukon
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Lansing
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lansing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lansing
      • Lansing is located in Allamakee County (IA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 933 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lansing <3>
    • Elon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elon
      • Elon is located in Allamakee County (IA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Elon
      • From Willington Grove to Elon
    • Dalby
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rossville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Waterville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waterville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterville
      • Waterville is located in Allamakee County (IA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
  • Howard County (IA)
  • Winneshiek County (IA)
  • Crawford County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Willington Grove, with the one closest to Willington Grove listed first.
    • De Soto
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Freeman
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeman have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
      • Freeman is located in Crawford County (WI)
    • Ferryville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ferryville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferryville
      • Ferryville is located in Crawford County (WI)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 173 people
  • La Crosse County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Willington Grove, with the one closest to Willington Grove listed first.
    • La Crosse
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • French Island
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • North La Crosse
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North La Crosse have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North La Crosse
      • North La Crosse is located in La Crosse County (WI)
    • Shelby
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shelby have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelby
      • Shelby is located in La Crosse County (WI)
    • Grand Crossing
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Onalaska
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Onalaska have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onalaska
      • Onalaska is located in La Crosse County (WI)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,108 people
    • Brice Prairie
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brice Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brice Prairie
      • Brice Prairie is located in La Crosse County (WI)
    • Barre Mills
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Midway
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Holmen
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holmen have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmen
      • Holmen is located in La Crosse County (WI)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,368 people
    • Saint Joseph
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Trempealeau County (WI)
    • Trempealeau
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trempealeau have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trempealeau
      • Trempealeau is located in Trempealeau County (WI)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,663 people
  • Vernon County (WI)

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

Cemeteries Near Willington Grove ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Willington Grove.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Spring Grove Lutheran Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spring Grove Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spring Grove Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Spring Grove Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spring Grove Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spring Grove Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Holy Trinity Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Trinity Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Trinity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Wilmington Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Wilmington Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Wilmington Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wilmington Norwegian Lutheran Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wilmington Norwegian Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wilmington Norwegian Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Stone Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stone Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stone Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Grove Prairie Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grove Prairie Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grove Prairie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Houston County Poor Farm Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Houston County Poor Farm Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Houston County Poor Farm Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Black Hammer Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Black Hammer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Black Hammer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Black Hammer Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Black Hammer Lutheran Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Black Hammer Lutheran Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Portland Prairie Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Portland Prairie Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Portland Prairie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (291 more) ...
    • Trinity Episcopal Church Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trinity Episcopal Church Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trinity Episcopal Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Old Caledonia Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Caledonia Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Caledonia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Willington Grove had railroad service and no post office.

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

  • Spring Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Grove
    • Spring Grove is located in Houston County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,262 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spring Grove <3>
  • Wilmington
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Black Hammer
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Hammer have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Hammer
    • Black Hammer is located in Houston County
  • Bee
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee
    • Bee is located in Houston County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Bee
    • From Willington Grove to Bee
  • Caledonia
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Sheldon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sheldon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheldon
    • Sheldon is located in Houston County
  • Newhouse
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newhouse have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newhouse
    • Newhouse is located in Houston County
  • Eitzen
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Riceford
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Quandahl
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Quandahl. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quandahl
    • Quandahl is located in Allamakee County (IA)
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Quandahl
    • From Willington Grove to Quandahl
  • Dorchester
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Yucatan
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Yucatan. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yucatan
    • Yucatan is located in Houston County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Yucatan
    • From Willington Grove to Yucatan
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Willington Grove ...

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 126 newspapers that have been published in the area around Willington Grove.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Willington Grove, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Willington Grove.

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 Willington Grove:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Willington Grove. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<2>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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 Willington Grove, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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- Willington Grove) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Willington Grove. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.5783, Longitude: -91.5789       In this case, the coordinates for Willington Grove have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025