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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 Douglas 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 Douglas 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 Douglas 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 Douglas Center: Douglas Ctr. (or less commonly used: Douglas Cen., Douglas Cent. or Douglas Cntr.)

You might see Douglas Centre instead of Douglas 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.

For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.

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 and hospitals 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.

Douglas Center is located in Marquette 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 Marquette County: Adams, Columbia, Green Lake & Waushara.

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

  • Marquette County     (The home county of Douglas Center)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Douglas Center, with the one closest to Douglas Center listed first.
    • Endeavor
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Endeavor is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Endeavor
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 464 people
    • Oxford
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Packwaukee
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Glen Oak
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Westfield
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Westfield is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,268 people
    • Montello
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Germania
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Neshkoro
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Neshkoro is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neshkoro
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 425 people
  • Adams County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Douglas Center, with the one closest to Douglas Center listed first.
    • Plainville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Easton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Pilot Knob ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Pilot Knob is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilot Knob
    • Adams
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Friendship
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Friendship is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 676 people
    • Quincy ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Arkdale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Douglas Center, with the one closest to Douglas Center listed first.
    • Portage
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Wisconsin Dells
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Pardeeville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Pardeeville is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pardeeville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,053 people
    • Durwards Glen ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Wyocena
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Harmony Grove
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Lake Wisconsin
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Lake Wisconsin is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Wisconsin
    • Poynette
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Okee
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Rio
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Rio is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,047 people
    • Cambria
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Friesland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Friesland is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friesland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 341 people
  • Dane County
  • Dodge County
    • Randolph
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Randolph is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,738 people
  • Green Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Douglas Center, with the one closest to Douglas Center listed first.
    • Marquette
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Marquette is located in Green Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marquette
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
    • Kingston
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Princeton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Markesan
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Markesan is located in Green Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Markesan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,389 people
  • Juneau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Douglas Center, with the one closest to Douglas Center listed first.
    • Lyndon Station
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Lyndon Station is located in Juneau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyndon Station
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 485 people
    • Lemonweir
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Mauston
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Mauston is located in Juneau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mauston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,358 people
  • Sauk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Douglas Center, with the one closest to Douglas Center listed first.
    • Lake Delton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Baraboo
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • West Baraboo
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • West Baraboo is located in Sauk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Baraboo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,416 people
    • Merrimac
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Merrimac is located in Sauk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrimac
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 441 people
    • North Freedom
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • North Freedom is located in Sauk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Freedom
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 690 people
    • Moon Valley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Rock Springs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Rock Springs is located in Sauk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Springs
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 361 people
    • Reedsburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Reedsburg is located in Sauk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedsburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,500 people
    • Prairie du Sac village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Denzer
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • La Valle
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Loganville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Waushara County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Douglas Center, with the one closest to Douglas Center listed first.
    • Coloma
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Coloma is located in Waushara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coloma
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
    • Rodney ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Rodney is located in Waushara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodney
    • Wautoma
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Wautoma is located in Waushara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wautoma
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,114 people
    • Hancock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Hancock is located in Waushara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 402 people
    • Silver Lake
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Silver Lake is located in Waushara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake

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

Cemeteries Near Douglas Center ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Douglas 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 Douglas Center - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Douglas Center, with the one closest to Douglas Center 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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Douglas Center had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Briggsville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Briggsville is located in Marquette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briggsville
  • Big Spring
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Big Spring is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Spring
  • Oxford
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Packwaukee
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Dell Prairie ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Dell Prairie is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dell Prairie
  • Portage
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • New Chester ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • New Chester is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Chester
  • Plainville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Montello
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Grand Marsh
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Grand Marsh is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Marsh
  • Harrisville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Harrisville is located in Marquette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisville
  • Belle Fountain
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Belle Fountain is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Fountain
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Easton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Lyndon Station
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Lyndon Station is located in Juneau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyndon Station
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 485 people
    • Dekorra
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Dekorra is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dekorra

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

Newspapers Published in Douglas 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 123 newspapers that have been published in the area around Douglas Center.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Douglas Center, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Douglas Center.

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 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 Douglas Center:

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>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 Douglas Center, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Douglas Center) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.