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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Darwin. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Darwin to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Darwin, please Contact Us.

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 Darwin (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 Darwin. 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 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 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Darwin is historic, it would have been located within present day Dane County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Dane County: Columbia, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Rock & Sauk.

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

  • Dane County     (The home county of Darwin)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Darwin, with the one closest to Darwin listed first.
    • Maple Bluff
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bluff
      • Maple Bluff is located in Dane County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,307 people
    • Mendota
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mendota. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendota
      • Mendota is located in Dane County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Mendota
      • From Darwin to Mendota
    • Burke
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Burke. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burke
      • Burke is located in Dane County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Burke
      • From Darwin to Burke
    • Madison
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Monona
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monona have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monona
      • Monona is located in Dane County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,164 people
    • Shorewood Hills
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shorewood Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorewood Hills
      • Shorewood Hills is located in Dane County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,999 people
    • Windsor
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Waunakee
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waunakee have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waunakee
      • Waunakee is located in Dane County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,188 people
    • Pilgrim Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pilgrim Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilgrim Village
      • Pilgrim Village is located in Dane County
    • Sun Prairie
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Prairie
      • Sun Prairie is located in Dane County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35,119 people
    • Middleton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middleton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
      • Middleton is located in Dane County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,195 people
    • Cottage Grove
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Ashton Corners
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Darwin, with the one closest to Darwin listed first.
    • Keyeser
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Keyeser. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keyeser
      • Keyeser is located in Columbia County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Keyeser
      • From Darwin to Keyeser
    • Arlington
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • North Leeds
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for North Leeds. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Leeds
      • North Leeds is located in Columbia County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to North Leeds
      • From Darwin to North Leeds
    • Lodi
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Poynette
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Harmony Grove
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Okee
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Wisconsin
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Wisconsin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Wisconsin
      • Lake Wisconsin is located in Columbia County
    • Otsego
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Rio
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rio have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio
      • Rio is located in Columbia County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,047 people
    • Columbus
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Doylestown
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Fall River
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • Dodge County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Darwin, with the one closest to Darwin listed first.
    • Astico
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Reeseville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Lowell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lowell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
      • Lowell is located in Dodge County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 322 people
  • Green County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Darwin, with the one closest to Darwin listed first.
    • Dayton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Attica
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • New Glarus
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Albany
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Albany have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albany
      • Albany is located in Green County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 977 people
    • Mineral Point
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mineral Point have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Point
      • Mineral Point is located in Green County
    • Monticello
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Iowa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Darwin, with the one closest to Darwin listed first.
    • Cassell
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cassell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cassell
      • Cassell is located in Iowa County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cassell
      • From Darwin to Cassell
    • Arena
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Barneveld
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barneveld have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barneveld
      • Barneveld is located in Iowa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,252 people
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Darwin, with the one closest to Darwin listed first.
    • Waterloo
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waterloo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterloo
      • Waterloo is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,322 people
    • Lake Ripley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Mills
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Mills
      • Lake Mills is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,014 people
    • Milford
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Carcajou
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Koshkonong
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Koshkonong have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Koshkonong
      • Lake Koshkonong is located in Jefferson County
    • Grellton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Jefferson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jefferson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
      • Jefferson is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,037 people
    • Johnson Creek
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Fort Atkinson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Atkinson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Atkinson
      • Fort Atkinson is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,372 people
  • Rock County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Darwin, with the one closest to Darwin listed first.
    • Cooksville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Union
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Union. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
      • Union is located in Rock County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Union
      • From Darwin to Union
    • Evansville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evansville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evansville
      • Evansville is located in Rock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,556 people
    • Edgerton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Fulton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Indianford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Indianford. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indianford
      • Indianford is located in Rock County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Indianford
      • From Darwin to Indianford
    • Magnolia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Milton Junction
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Sauk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Darwin, with the one closest to Darwin listed first.
    • Merrimac
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Merrimac have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrimac
      • Merrimac is located in Sauk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 441 people
    • Prairie du Sac village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Sauk City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sauk City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sauk City
      • Sauk City is located in Sauk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,498 people
    • Moon Valley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Witwen
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Baraboo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Denzer
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Darwin ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Darwin.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

Darwin itself is historic and was described in the Rand McNally Atlas as having railroad service and no post office.

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

  • Mendota
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mendota. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendota
    • Mendota is located in Dane County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Mendota
    • From Darwin to Mendota
  • Burke
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Burke. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burke
    • Burke is located in Dane County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Burke
    • From Darwin to Burke
  • Madison
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Pheasant Branch
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pheasant Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Branch
    • Pheasant Branch is located in Dane County
  • Vilas
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vilas have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vilas
    • Vilas is located in Dane County
  • Windsor
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Waunakee
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waunakee have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waunakee
    • Waunakee is located in Dane County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,188 people
  • Middleton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middleton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
    • Middleton is located in Dane County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,195 people
  • Hope
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
    • Hope is located in Dane County
  • Sun Prairie
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Prairie
    • Sun Prairie is located in Dane County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 35,119 people
  • Syene ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Syene. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Syene
    • Syene is located in Dane County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Syene
    • From Darwin to Syene
  • Norway Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norway Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norway Grove
    • Norway Grove is located in Dane County
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Darwin ...

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 251 newspapers that have been published in the area around Darwin.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Darwin, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Darwin.

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 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 Darwin:

The official website for Dane County: www.co.dane.wi.us/

The official website for State of Wisconsin: https://www.wisconsin.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Darwin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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.
<5>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Darwin) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Darwin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.1289, Longitude: -89.3519       In this case, the coordinates for Darwin have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025