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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 Winnebago (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 Winnebago. 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.

Winnebago is located in Thurston County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Thurston County: Monona (IA), Woodbury (IA), Burt, Cuming, Dakota, Dixon & Wayne.

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

  • Thurston County     (The home county of Winnebago)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winnebago, with the one closest to Winnebago listed first.
    • Walthill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Macy
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Rosalie
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Thurston
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Pender
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Burt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winnebago, with the one closest to Winnebago listed first.
    • Decatur
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Lyons
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Bertha
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Bertha is located in Burt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertha
    • Oakland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Cuming County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winnebago, with the one closest to Winnebago listed first.
    • Bancroft
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Beemer
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Wisner
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • West Point
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • West Point is located in Cuming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Point
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,237 people
      • West Point has also been known as:
      • Westpoint
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Point <1>
  • Dakota County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winnebago, with the one closest to Winnebago listed first.
    • Homer
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Hubbard
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Dakota City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Jackson
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • South Sioux City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Goodwin
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Goodwin is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodwin
    • Willis
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Willis is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willis
  • Dixon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winnebago, with the one closest to Winnebago listed first.
    • Emerson
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Waterbury
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Wakefield
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Allen
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Ponca
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Martinsburg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Martinsburg is located in Dixon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
    • Concord
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Dixon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Wayne County
    • Wayne
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Monona County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winnebago, with the one closest to Winnebago listed first.
    • Albaton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Albaton is located in Monona County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albaton
    • Whiting
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Onawa
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Onawa is located in Monona County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onawa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,766 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Onawa <1>
    • Rodney
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Rodney is located in Monona County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodney
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 57 people
    • Blencoe
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Blencoe is located in Monona County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blencoe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 196 people
    • Turin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Turin is located in Monona County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 63 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Turin <1>
    • Castana
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Plymouth County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winnebago, with the one closest to Winnebago listed first.
    • James
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • James is located in Plymouth County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for James
    • Hinton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Hinton is located in Plymouth County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 954 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hinton <1>
  • Woodbury County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winnebago, with the one closest to Winnebago listed first.
    • Salix
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Salix is located in Woodbury County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salix
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Salix <1>
    • Sloan
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Sloan is located in Woodbury County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sloan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 996 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sloan <1>
    • Sergeant Bluff
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Glen Ellen
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Glen Ellen is located in Woodbury County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Ellen
    • Bronson
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Bronson is located in Woodbury County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bronson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 318 people
    • Regency of Sioux City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Regency of Sioux City is located in Woodbury County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regency of Sioux City
    • Sioux City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Hornick
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Hornick is located in Woodbury County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hornick
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 210 people
    • Holiday Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Holiday Village is located in Woodbury County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Village
    • Climbing Hill
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Climbing Hill is located in Woodbury County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climbing Hill
    • Lawton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Lawton is located in Woodbury County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 979 people
    • Evergreen Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Evergreen Village is located in Woodbury County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Village
    • Moville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Moville is located in Woodbury County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,651 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moville <1>
  • Union County (SD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winnebago, with the one closest to Winnebago listed first.
    • Dakota Dunes
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • North Sioux City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • McCook Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • McCook Lake is located in Union County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCook Lake
    • Jefferson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near Winnebago ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Winnebago.

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

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

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

  • Winnebago Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • St. Augustine Mission Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Meseal Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Omaha Valley Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Green Valley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Cornelius Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Walthill Evergreen Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Pilcher Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Grove Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Jopp Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Taylor Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Omaha Tribal Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omaha Tribal Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Omaha Tribal Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northwest of Macy.
    • The Omaha Tribal Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Blackbird Hill Cemetery
    • Umo Ho Tribal Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #101083 <2>
  • Continue List   (97 more) ...
    • Fairview Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Walnut Grove Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • St. Josephs Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Winnebago had a population of 22 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Winnebago had a population of 924 people.

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

  • Homer
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Albaton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Albaton is located in Monona County (IA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albaton
  • Salix
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Salix is located in Woodbury County (IA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salix
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Salix <1>
  • Hubbard
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Sloan
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Sloan is located in Woodbury County (IA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sloan
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 996 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sloan <1>
  • Sergeant Bluff
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Dakota City
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Emerson
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Pender
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Luton
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Luton is located in Woodbury County (IA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luton
  • Glen Ellen
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Glen Ellen is located in Woodbury County (IA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Ellen
  • Jackson
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • South Sioux City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Bancroft
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Maple Landing ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Maple Landing is located in Monona County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Landing

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Winnebago ...

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 150 newspapers that have been published in the area around Winnebago.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Winnebago. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Winnebago and those printed in the larger area surrounding Winnebago.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Winnebago.

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 websites either 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 Winnebago:

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 Winnebago, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Winnebago) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.