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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 Downing (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 Downing. 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.

Downing is located in Dunn 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 Dunn County: Barron, Chippewa, Eau Claire, Pepin, Pierce, Polk & Saint Croix.

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

  • Dunn County     (The home county of Downing)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Downing, with the one closest to Downing listed first.
    • Boyceville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Knapp
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Wheeler
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Wheeler is located in Dunn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 353 people
    • Tainter Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Tainter Lake is located in Dunn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tainter Lake
    • Ridgeland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Ridgeland is located in Dunn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 276 people
    • Menomonie
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Colfax
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Colfax is located in Dunn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colfax
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,151 people
    • Eau Galle
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Elk Mound
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Elk Mound is located in Dunn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Mound
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 884 people
    • Falls City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Falls City is located in Dunn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls City
    • Dunnville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Meridean
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Barron County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Downing, with the one closest to Downing listed first.
    • Prairie Farm
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Prairie Farm is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Farm
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 434 people
    • Dallas
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Twin Town
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Twin Town is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Town
    • Hillsdale
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Turtle Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Almena
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Almena is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 638 people
    • Poskin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Barron
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Chetek
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Chetek is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chetek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,094 people
  • Chippewa County
  • Pepin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Downing, with the one closest to Downing listed first.
    • Arkansaw
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Durand
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Pierce County
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Downing, with the one closest to Downing listed first.
    • Clear Lake
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Clayton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Clayton is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 541 people
    • Amery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Deronda
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Volga ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Horse Creek
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Saint Croix County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Downing, with the one closest to Downing listed first.
    • Glenwood City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Glenwood City is located in Saint Croix County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,214 people
    • Wilson
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Hersey
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Woodville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Baldwin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Deer Park
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Erin Corner
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Hammond
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • New Richmond
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Roberts
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Star Prairie
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Star Prairie is located in Saint Croix County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star Prairie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 549 people
    • Burkhardt
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Somerset
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Downing ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Downing.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Downing, with the one closest to Downing 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, Downing had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Downing had a population of 262 people.

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

  • Boyceville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Hersey
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Wilson
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Knapp
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Emerald
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Emerald is located in Saint Croix County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald
  • Woodville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Wheeler
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Wheeler is located in Dunn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 353 people
  • Cylon
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Cylon is located in Saint Croix County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cylon
  • Baldwin
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Wildwood
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Wildwood is located in Saint Croix County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
  • Hatchville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Hatchville is located in Dunn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatchville
  • Menomonie Junction
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Menomonie Junction is located in Dunn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menomonie Junction
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Spring Valley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • North Menomonie
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • North Menomonie is located in Dunn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Menomonie
    • Cedar Falls
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Cedar Falls is located in Dunn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Falls

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Downing ...

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 100 newspapers that have been published in the area around Downing.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Downing. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Downing and those printed in the larger area surrounding Downing.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Downing.

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 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 Downing:

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 Downing, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Downing) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.