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 Bloomington (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 Bloomington. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Bloomington is located in Grant 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 Grant County: Clayton (IA), Dubuque (IA), Jo Daviess (IL), Crawford, Iowa, Lafayette & Richland.
Below are the counties that are near Bloomington. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bloomington:
- Grant County (The home county of Bloomington)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
- Patch Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Patch Grove is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patch Grove
- Population from the 2020 Census: 192 people
- North Andover
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- North Andover is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Andover
- Mount Hope
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Hope is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
- Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
- Beetown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Beetown is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beetown
- Glen Haven
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Glen Haven is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Haven
- Bagley
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Bagley is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bagley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 367 people
- Millville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Millville is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millville
- Mount Ida
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Ida is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Ida
- Lancaster
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Lancaster is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,700 people
- Wyalusing
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Wyalusing is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyalusing
- Werley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Werley is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Werley
- Cassville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Cassville is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cassville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 877 people
- Fennimore
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Fennimore is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fennimore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,469 people
- Crawford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
- Bridgeport
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Bridgeport is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeport
- Wauzeka
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Wauzeka is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wauzeka
- Population from the 2020 Census: 733 people
- Prairie du Chien
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Prairie du Chien is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie du Chien
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,531 people
- Boydtown
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Boydtown is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boydtown
- Eastman
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Eastman is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastman
- Population from the 2020 Census: 404 people
- Steuben
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Steuben is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steuben
- Population from the 2020 Census: 121 people
- Charme
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Charme is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charme
- Petersburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Petersburg is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg
- Bell Center
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Bell Center is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell Center
- Population from the 2020 Census: 114 people
- Gays Mills
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Gays Mills is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gays Mills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 504 people
- Mount Sterling
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Mount Sterling is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Sterling
- Population from the 2020 Census: 196 people
- Iowa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
- Centreville ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Centreville is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centreville
- Former name for Centreville:
- Dry Bone
- Rewey
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Rewey is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rewey
- Population from the 2020 Census: 283 people
- Highland
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Highland is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 826 people
- Cobb
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Cobb is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobb
- Population from the 2020 Census: 455 people
- Richland County
- Westport
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Westport is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westport
- Allamakee County (IA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
- Ion
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Ion is located in Allamakee County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ion
- Waukon Junction
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Waukon Junction is located in Allamakee County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waukon Junction
- Harpers Ferry
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Volney
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Volney is located in Allamakee County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volney
- Waterville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Waterville is located in Allamakee County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
- Rossville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Rossville is located in Allamakee County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossville
- Clayton County (IA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
- Guttenberg
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Clayton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Clayton is located in Clayton County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 39 people
- Turkey River
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Turkey River is located in Clayton County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey River
- North Buena Vista
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- North Buena Vista is located in Clayton County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Buena Vista
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
- Millville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Millville is located in Clayton County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millville
- Estimated population in 2014: 29 people
- McGregor
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Garnavillo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Marquette
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Osterdock
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Osterdock is located in Clayton County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osterdock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 47 people
- Garber
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Garber is located in Clayton County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garber
- Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
- Elkport
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Elkport is located in Clayton County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkport
- Population from the 2020 Census: 36 people
- Clayton Center
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Clayton Center is located in Clayton County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton Center
- Beulah
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Beulah is located in Clayton County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beulah
- Delaware County (IA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
- Colesburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Colesburg is located in Delaware County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colesburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 371 people
- Holy Cross
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Holy Cross is located in Delaware County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holy Cross
- Petersburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Petersburg is located in Delaware County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg
- Edgewood
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Greeley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Almoral
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Almoral is located in Delaware County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almoral
- Dubuque County (IA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
- Waupeton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Waupeton is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waupeton
- Balltown
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Balltown is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Balltown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 69 people
- Old Balltown
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Old Balltown is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Balltown
- Holy Cross
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Holy Cross is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holy Cross
- Population from the 2020 Census: 370 people
- Luxemburg
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Luxemburg is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luxemburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 247 people
- Rickardsville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Rickardsville is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rickardsville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
- Sherrill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Durango
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- New Vienna
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- New Vienna is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Vienna
- Population from the 2020 Census: 412 people
- Bankston
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Bankston is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bankston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 27 people
- Sageville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Sageville is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sageville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
- Asbury
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Asbury is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asbury
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,841 people
- Graf
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Graf is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graf
- Population from the 2020 Census: 81 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Bloomington, see our County-by-County Page for Bloomington.
Cemeteries Near Bloomington ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bloomington.
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 Bloomington - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Bloomington covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
- Blake Prairie Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Providence Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- St. Johns Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Dodge Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Little Grant Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Union - Lumpkin Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Union Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Patch Grove Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Burns Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Scott Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Beetown Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Hermitage Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (293 more) ...
- Gockel Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant Ridge Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Pleasant View Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
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>
While we didn't find Bloomington in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bloomington.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
- North Andover
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- North Andover is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Andover
- Mount Hope
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Hope is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
- Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
- Beetown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Beetown is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beetown
- Glen Haven
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Glen Haven is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Haven
- Bagley
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Bagley is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bagley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 367 people
- Millville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Millville is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millville
- Eckards
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Eckards is located in Clayton County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eckards
- Hurricane
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Hurricane is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurricane
- Mount Ida
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Ida is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Ida
- Bridgeport
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Bridgeport is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeport
- Guttenberg
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lancaster
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Lancaster is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,700 people
- Continue List (18 more) ...
- Wyalusing
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Wyalusing is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyalusing
- Clayton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Clayton is located in Clayton County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 39 people
- Cassville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Cassville is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cassville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 877 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Bloomington. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bloomington.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Bloomington ...
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 112 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bloomington.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Bloomington. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Bloomington and those printed in the larger area surrounding Bloomington.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4> of Bloomington.
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 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 Bloomington:
- Websites specific to Wisconsin
- Pages specific to Grant County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Crawford County
- Iowa County
- Richland County
- Allamakee County
- Clayton County
- Delaware County
- Dubuque County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Wisconsin
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 Bloomington, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bloomington) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |