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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 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.

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 may 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)
      • Maple Bluff is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bluff
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,307 people
    • Mendota
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Burke
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Madison
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Monona
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Monona is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monona
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,164 people
    • Shorewood Hills
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Shorewood Hills is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorewood Hills
      • 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)
      • Waunakee is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waunakee
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,188 people
    • Pilgrim Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Pilgrim Village is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilgrim Village
    • Pheasant Branch
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Pheasant Branch is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Branch
    • Sun Prairie
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Sun Prairie is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Prairie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35,119 people
    • Hope
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Hope is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
    • Middleton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Middleton is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,195 people
  • Columbia County
  • 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)
      • Lowell is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
      • 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)
      • Albany is located in Green County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albany
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 977 people
    • Mineral Point
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Mineral Point is located in Green County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Point
    • 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)
    • Arena
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Barneveld
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Barneveld is located in Iowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barneveld
      • 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)
    • Lake Ripley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Mills
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Lake Mills is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Mills
      • 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)
      • Lake Koshkonong is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Koshkonong
    • Grellton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Jefferson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jefferson is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
      • 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)
  • Rock County
  • 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)
      • Merrimac is located in Sauk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrimac
      • 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)
      • Sauk City is located in Sauk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sauk City
      • 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.

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 Darwin - one of the links might be able to help.

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)
  • Burke
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Madison
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Pheasant Branch
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Pheasant Branch is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Branch
  • Vilas
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Vilas is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vilas
  • Windsor
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Waunakee
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Waunakee is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waunakee
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,188 people
  • Middleton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Middleton is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,195 people
  • Hope
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Hope is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
  • Sun Prairie
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Sun Prairie is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Prairie
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 35,119 people
  • Syene ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Norway Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Norway Grove is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norway Grove
  • 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]<3>. 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 start with 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 Darwin:

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 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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Darwin) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.