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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 Elk Grove (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 Elk Grove. 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 Elk Grove ...

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 Elk Grove: Elk Grv.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Elk Grove. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Elk Grove.

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.

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Elk Grove is located in Lafayette 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 Lafayette County: Jo Daviess (IL), Stephenson (IL), Grant, Green & Iowa.

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

  • Lafayette County     (The home county of Elk Grove)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elk Grove, with the one closest to Elk Grove listed first.
    • Belmont
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Benton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Benton is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 966 people
    • Etna
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • New Diggings
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Shullsburg
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Shullsburg is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shullsburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,192 people
    • Fort Gratiot ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Calamine
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • White Oak
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Darlington
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Darlington is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darlington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,317 people
    • Gratiot
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Wiota
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Argyle
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Argyle is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 809 people
    • South Wayne
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • South Wayne is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Wayne
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 472 people
  • Grant County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elk Grove, with the one closest to Elk Grove listed first.
    • Cuba City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Cuba City is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,047 people
    • Platteville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Platteville is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platteville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,650 people
    • Hazel Green
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Hazel Green is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel Green
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,219 people
    • Jamestown
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Dickeyville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Dickeyville is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickeyville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,020 people
    • Rutledge
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Livingston
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Livingston is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livingston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 632 people
    • Sinnipee ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Tennyson
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Tennyson is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tennyson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 339 people
    • Potosi
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Annaton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Montfort
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Lancaster
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Iowa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elk Grove, with the one closest to Elk Grove listed first.
    • Rewey
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Mineral Point
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Linden
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Linden is located in Iowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 523 people
    • Cobb
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Edmund
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Centreville ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Dodgeville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Dodgeville is located in Iowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodgeville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,677 people
    • Highland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Hollandale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Moscow
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasant Ridge
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Ridgeway
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Ridgeway is located in Iowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 635 people
  • Clayton County (IA)
    • North Buena Vista
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • 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
  • Dubuque County (IA)
  • Jackson County (IA)
  • Jo Daviess County (IL)

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

Cemeteries Near Elk Grove ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Elk Grove.

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 Elk Grove - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Elk Grove, with the one closest to Elk Grove 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Elk Grove had a population of 60 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Meekers Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Meekers Grove is located in Lafayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meekers Grove
  • Ipswich
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Ipswich is located in Lafayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ipswich
  • Elmo
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Elmo is located in Grant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmo
  • Bigpatch
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Bigpatch is located in Grant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bigpatch
  • Georgetown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Georgetown is located in Grant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
  • Cuba City
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Cuba City is located in Grant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba City
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,047 people
  • Belmont
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Benton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Benton is located in Lafayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 966 people
  • Leslie
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Leslie is located in Lafayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leslie
  • Platteville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Platteville is located in Grant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platteville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,650 people
  • Lead Mine
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Lead Mine is located in Lafayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lead Mine
  • Etna
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Truman
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Truman is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Truman
    • Jamestown
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Hazel Green
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Hazel Green is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel Green
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,219 people

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

Newspapers Published in Elk Grove ...

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 162 newspapers that have been published in the area around Elk Grove.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Elk Grove, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Elk Grove.

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 Elk Grove:

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 Elk Grove, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Elk Grove) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.