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 Lafayette (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 Lafayette. 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 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.
Lafayette is located in Medina County.
To see how the shape of Ohio's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Medina County: Ashland, Cuyahoga, Lorain, Summit & Wayne.
Below are the counties that are near Lafayette. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Lafayette:
- Medina County (The home county of Lafayette)
- The following are listed by their distance from Lafayette, with the one closest to Lafayette listed first.
- Briarwood Beach ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Briarwood Beach is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briarwood Beach
- Chippewa Lake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Chippewa Lake is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chippewa Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 749 people
- Former name for Chippewa Lake:
- Chippewa-on-the-Lake
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chippewa Lake <1>
- Gloria Glens Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Gloria Glens Park is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gloria Glens Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 449 people
- Medina
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Westfield Center
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Westfield Center is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westfield Center
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,188 people
- Poe
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Poe is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poe
- Friendsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Friendsville is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendsville
- Litchfield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Risley ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Risley is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Risley
- Lodi
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Abbeyville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Abbeyville is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbeyville
- Pawnee
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Pawnee is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawnee
- Ashland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lafayette, with the one closest to Lafayette listed first.
- Albion
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Albion is located in Ashland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
- Polk
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Polk is located in Ashland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polk
- Population from the 2020 Census: 331 people
- Redhaw
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Redhaw is located in Ashland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redhaw
- Nova
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Rowsburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Rowsburg is located in Ashland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowsburg
- Bailey Lakes
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Bailey Lakes is located in Ashland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey Lakes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
- Jeromesville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Savannah
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Ruggles
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Ruggles is located in Ashland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruggles
- Ashland
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Hayesville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Hayesville is located in Ashland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 459 people
- Champaign County
- Rochester
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Rochester is located in Champaign County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester
- Cuyahoga County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lafayette, with the one closest to Lafayette listed first.
- Bennetts Corners
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Bennetts Corners is located in Cuyahoga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennetts Corners
- Strongsville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Binola
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Binola is located in Cuyahoga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Binola
- Berea
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Olmsted Falls
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- North Royalton
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Middleburg Heights
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Broadview Heights
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Brook Park
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Parma Heights
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- North Olmsted
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Brecksville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Erie County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lafayette, with the one closest to Lafayette listed first.
- Birmingham
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Florence
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Florence is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
- Huron County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lafayette, with the one closest to Lafayette listed first.
- White Fox
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- White Fox is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Fox
- New London
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Wakeman
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- West Clarksfield
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- West Clarksfield is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Clarksfield
- Fitchville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Fitchville is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitchville
- Hartland Station
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Hartland Station is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartland Station
- Hartland
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Hartland is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartland
- East Townsend
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- East Townsend is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Townsend
- Greenwich
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Lorain County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lafayette, with the one closest to Lafayette listed first.
- Belden
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Belden is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belden
- Grafton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Lagrange
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Pheasant Run Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Pheasant Run Village is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Run Village
- Eaton Estates
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Eaton Estates is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eaton Estates
- Huntington
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Huntington is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntington
- Wellington
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Nickelplate ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Nickelplate is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nickelplate
- Fields
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Fields is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fields
- Oberlin
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Rochester
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Rochester is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester
- Population from the 2020 Census: 175 people
- Brighton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Brighton is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brighton
- Portage County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lafayette, with the one closest to Lafayette listed first.
- Suffield Station
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Suffield Station is located in Portage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suffield Station
- Brimfield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Kent
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Mishler
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Mishler is located in Portage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mishler
- Richland County
- Olivesburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Olivesburg is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivesburg
- Stark County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lafayette, with the one closest to Lafayette listed first.
- Canal Fulton
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- North Lawrence
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- East Greenville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- East Greenville is located in Stark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Greenville
- Sippo
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Sippo is located in Stark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sippo
- Forty Corners Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Uniontown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Mayflower Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Mayflower Village is located in Stark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayflower Village
- Rolling Hills Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- West Brookfield
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- West Brookfield is located in Stark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Brookfield
- Greentown
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Greentown is located in Stark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greentown
- Massillon
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Westarado
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Westarado is located in Stark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westarado
- Summit County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lafayette, with the one closest to Lafayette listed first.
- Paxton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Paxton is located in Summit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paxton
- Pigeon Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Pigeon Creek is located in Summit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pigeon Creek
- Copley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Montrose
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Montrose is located in Summit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montrose
- Bath Center
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Bath Center is located in Summit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath Center
- Bath
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Fairlawn
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Norton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Barberton
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Richfield
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Clinton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- New Franklin
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- New Franklin is located in Summit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Franklin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,101 people
- Wayne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lafayette, with the one closest to Lafayette listed first.
- Burbank
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Creston
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Sterling
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Aukerman
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Aukerman is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aukerman
- Rittman
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- West Salem
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Congress
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Congress is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Congress
- Population from the 2020 Census: 177 people
- Doylestown
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Smithville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Devil Town
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Devil Town is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devil Town
- Marshallville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Lattasburg
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Lattasburg is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lattasburg
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Lafayette, see our County-by-County Page for Lafayette.
Cemeteries Near Lafayette ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lafayette.
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 Lafayette - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Lafayette covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Lafayette, with the one closest to Lafayette listed first.
- Shaw Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Waltz Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Lafayette Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Spitzer Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Branch Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Friendsville Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Old Medina Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- York Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Chatham Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Woodlawn Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Old Westfield Center Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Westfield Center Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Continue List (536 more) ...
- Poe Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Spring Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Medina Catholic 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.<2>
While we didn't find Lafayette in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Lafayette.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Lafayette, with the one closest to Lafayette listed first.
- Chippewa Lake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Chippewa Lake is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chippewa Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 749 people
- Former name for Chippewa Lake:
- Chippewa-on-the-Lake
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chippewa Lake <1>
- Chamberlain ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Chamberlain is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamberlain
- Medina
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Mallet Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Mallet Creek is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallet Creek
- Friendsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Friendsville is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendsville
- Poe
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Poe is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poe
- Lodi
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Litchfield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Pawnee
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Pawnee is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawnee
- Erhart
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Erhart is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erhart
- Seville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Blake
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Blake is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blake
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- River Styx
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- River Styx is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Styx
- Abbeyville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Abbeyville is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbeyville
- Burbank
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Lafayette. See our List of 1890's Communities around Lafayette.
Newspapers Published in Lafayette ...
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 73 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lafayette.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lafayette, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lafayette.
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 Lafayette:
- Websites specific to Ohio
- Pages specific to Medina County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Ashland County
- Champaign County
- Cuyahoga County
- Erie County
- Huron County
- Lorain County
- Portage County
- Richland County
- Stark County
- Summit County
- Wayne County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Ohio
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> | 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 Lafayette, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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- Lafayette) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |