RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Wisconsin >> Shawano County >> Belle Plaine >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Belle Plaine (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 Belle Plaine. 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 and doctors 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.

Belle Plaine is located in Shawano 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 Shawano County: Brown, Langlade, Marathon, Menominee, Oconto, Outagamie, Portage & Waupaca.

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

  • Shawano County     (The home county of Belle Plaine)
  • Brown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belle Plaine, with the one closest to Belle Plaine listed first.
    • Pulaski
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Pittsfield
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Pittsfield is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsfield
    • Flintville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Oneida
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Oneida is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneida
    • Hobart
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Hobart is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobart
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,495 people
    • Howard
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Howard is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,346 people
  • Langlade County
  • Marathon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belle Plaine, with the one closest to Belle Plaine listed first.
    • Elderon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Elderon is located in Marathon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elderon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 213 people
    • Galloway
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Menominee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belle Plaine, with the one closest to Belle Plaine listed first.
    • Keshena
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Legend Lake
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Legend Lake is located in Menominee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Legend Lake
    • Neopit
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Neopit is located in Menominee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neopit
    • Zoar
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • Oconto County
  • Outagamie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belle Plaine, with the one closest to Belle Plaine listed first.
    • Leeman
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Bear Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Bear Creek is located in Outagamie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 439 people
    • Nichols
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Nichols is located in Outagamie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nichols
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 283 people
    • Shiocton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Shiocton is located in Outagamie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiocton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 914 people
    • Black Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Black Creek is located in Outagamie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,309 people
    • Seymour
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Seymour is located in Outagamie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seymour
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,457 people
    • Hortonville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Chicago Corners
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Greenville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Greenville is located in Outagamie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
    • Freedom
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Medina
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Apple Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Portage County
  • Waupaca County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belle Plaine, with the one closest to Belle Plaine listed first.
    • Embarrass
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Embarrass is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Embarrass
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 375 people
    • Clintonville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Clintonville is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clintonville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,353 people
    • Marion
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Granite City ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Granite City is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite City
    • Big Falls
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Big Falls is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Falls
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 69 people
    • Manawa
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Manawa is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manawa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,269 people
    • New London
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • New London is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New London
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,065 people
    • Ostrander
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Little Wolf ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Ogdensburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Ogdensburg is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogdensburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 175 people
    • Baldwins Mill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Iola
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Iola is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iola
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,190 people
    • Scandinavia
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Scandinavia is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scandinavia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 349 people

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

Cemeteries Near Belle Plaine ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Belle Plaine.

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 Belle Plaine - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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 Belle Plaine had a population of 67 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Embarrass
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Embarrass is located in Waupaca County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Embarrass
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 375 people
  • Shawano
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Clintonville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Clintonville is located in Waupaca County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clintonville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,353 people
  • Pella
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Buckbee
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Buckbee is located in Waupaca County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckbee
  • Leopolis
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Bonduel
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Marion
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Leeman
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Gresham
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Keshena
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Caroline
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Caroline is located in Shawano County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caroline
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Cecil
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Cecil is located in Shawano County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cecil
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 548 people
    • Bear Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Bear Creek is located in Outagamie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 439 people
    • Marble ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Marble is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marble

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

Newspapers Published in Belle Plaine ...

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 90 newspapers that have been published in the area around Belle Plaine.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Belle Plaine, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Belle Plaine.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Belle Plaine:

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Belle Plaine) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Belle Plaine, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.