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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 Bell Center (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 Bell Center. 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 Bell Center ...

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 occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Bell Center: Bell Ctr. (or less commonly used: Bell Cen., Bell Cent. or Bell Cntr.)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Bell Center. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Bell Center.

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and 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.

Bell Center is located in Crawford County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Crawford County: Allamakee (IA), Clayton (IA), Grant, Richland & Vernon.

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

  • Crawford County     (The home county of Bell Center)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bell Center, with the one closest to Bell Center listed first.
    • Petersburg
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Gays Mills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Gays Mills is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gays Mills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 504 people
    • Mount Sterling
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Mount Sterling is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Sterling
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 196 people
    • Soldiers Grove
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Soldiers Grove is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soldiers Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 535 people
    • Steuben
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Towerville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Rising Sun
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Boydtown
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Eastman
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Eastman is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 404 people
    • Ferryville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Ferryville is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferryville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 173 people
    • Freeman
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Freeman is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
    • Wauzeka
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Wauzeka is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wauzeka
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 733 people
  • Grant County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bell Center, with the one closest to Bell Center listed first.
    • Boscobel
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Boscobel is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boscobel
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,134 people
    • Woodman
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Woodman is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
    • Blue River
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Blue River is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue River
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 418 people
    • Millville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Werley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Werley is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Werley
    • Muscoda
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Muscoda is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscoda
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,236 people
    • Mount Hope
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Mount Hope is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
    • Mount Ida
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Fennimore
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Patch Grove
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Patch Grove is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patch Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 192 people
    • Preston
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Stitzer
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Iowa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bell Center, with the one closest to Bell Center listed first.
    • Avoca
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Avoca is located in Iowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 620 people
    • Centreville ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Highland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Richland County
  • Vernon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bell Center, with the one closest to Bell Center listed first.
    • Readstown
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Readstown is located in Vernon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Readstown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 414 people
    • Fargo
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Liberty Pole
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • West Prairie
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • West Prairie is located in Vernon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Prairie
    • Liberty
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Liberty is located in Vernon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
    • Retreat
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Viroqua
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Viroqua is located in Vernon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viroqua
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,394 people
    • Purdy
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • La Farge
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Newton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Westby
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Chaseburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Allamakee County (IA)
  • Clayton County (IA)

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

Cemeteries Near Bell Center ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bell Center.

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 Bell Center - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Bell Center Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Crow Hollow Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Gays Mills Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Whiteaker Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Haney Valley Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Barnum Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Haney Ridge Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Graves Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Union Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Phillips Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Mook Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (217 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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Bell Center had a population of 105 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Bell Center had a population of 114 people.

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

  • Mount Sterling
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Mount Sterling is located in Crawford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Sterling
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 196 people
  • Seneca
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Seneca is located in Crawford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seneca
  • Steuben
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Soldiers Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Soldiers Grove is located in Crawford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soldiers Grove
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 535 people
  • Towerville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • North Clayton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • North Clayton is located in Crawford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Clayton
  • Excelsior
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Excelsior is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Excelsior
  • Rising Sun
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Folsom
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Folsom is located in Vernon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Folsom
  • Westport
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Westport is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westport
  • Five Points
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Five Points is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Sugar Grove
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Sugar Grove is located in Vernon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Readstown
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Readstown is located in Vernon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Readstown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 414 people
    • Boydtown
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Boscobel
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Boscobel is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boscobel
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,134 people

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

Newspapers Published in Bell Center ...

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 141 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bell Center.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bell Center, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bell Center.

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 helpful 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 Bell Center:

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 Bell Center, 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- Bell Center) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.