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 Excelsior (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 Excelsior. 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 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.
Excelsior is located in Richland 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 Richland County: Crawford, Grant, Iowa, Sauk & Vernon.
Below are the counties that are near Excelsior. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Excelsior:
- Richland County (The home county of Excelsior)
- The following are listed by their distance from Excelsior, with the one closest to Excelsior listed first.
- Westport
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Boaz
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Balmoral
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Sabin
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north) - Richland Center
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland Center
- Richland Center is located in Richland County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,949 people
- Gillingham
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gillingham
- Gillingham is located in Richland County
- Aubrey
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aubrey
- Aubrey is located in Richland County
- Viola
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north) - Bloom City
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloom City
- Bloom City is located in Richland County
- Neptune
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neptune
- Neptune is located in Richland County
- Hub City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast) - Lone Rock
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Crawford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Excelsior, with the one closest to Excelsior listed first.
- Bell Center
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bell Center have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell Center
- Bell Center is located in Crawford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 114 people
- Petersburg
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg
- Petersburg is located in Crawford County
- Soldiers Grove
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Soldiers Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soldiers Grove
- Soldiers Grove is located in Crawford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 535 people
- Steuben
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steuben
- Steuben is located in Crawford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 121 people
- Gays Mills
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gays Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gays Mills
- Gays Mills is located in Crawford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 504 people
- Boydtown
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boydtown
- Boydtown is located in Crawford County
- Mount Sterling
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Sterling have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Sterling
- Mount Sterling is located in Crawford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 196 people
- Towerville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Towerville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Towerville
- Towerville is located in Crawford County
- Wauzeka
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest) - Eastman
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west) - Ferryville
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ferryville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferryville
- Ferryville is located in Crawford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 173 people
- Bridgeport
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeport
- Bridgeport is located in Crawford County
- Grant County
- The following are listed by their distance from Excelsior, with the one closest to Excelsior listed first.
- Blue River
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blue River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue River
- Blue River is located in Grant County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 418 people
- Boscobel
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Muscoda
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Woodman
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest) - Fennimore
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fennimore
- Fennimore is located in Grant County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,469 people
- Preston
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south) - Mount Ida
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south) - Montfort
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montfort
- Montfort is located in Grant County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 675 people
- Millville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millville
- Millville is located in Grant County
- Stitzer
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stitzer
- Stitzer is located in Grant County
- Mount Hope
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
- Mount Hope is located in Grant County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
- Annaton
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Annaton
- Annaton is located in Grant County
- Iowa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Excelsior, with the one closest to Excelsior listed first.
- Avoca
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east) - Highland
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast) - Centreville ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centreville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centreville
- Centreville is located in Iowa County
- Former names for Centreville:
- Dry Bone Post Office
- Dry Bone
- Cobb
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast) - Edmund
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmund
- Edmund is located in Iowa County
- Linden
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast) - Rewey
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rewey
- Rewey is located in Iowa County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 283 people
- Sauk County
- The following are listed by their distance from Excelsior, with the one closest to Excelsior listed first.
- Spring Green
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Green have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Green
- Spring Green is located in Sauk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,630 people
- Lime Ridge
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lime Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime Ridge
- Lime Ridge is located in Sauk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 163 people
- Plain
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Vernon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Excelsior, with the one closest to Excelsior listed first.
- Readstown
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest) - Liberty
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north) - Fargo
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest) - Liberty Pole
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Pole
- Liberty Pole is located in Vernon County
- La Farge
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Farge
- La Farge is located in Vernon County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 763 people
- Viroqua
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest) - White City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
- White City is located in Vernon County
- Retreat
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Retreat
- Retreat is located in Vernon County
- Purdy
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest) - Westby
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westby
- Westby is located in Vernon County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,254 people
- Allamakee County (IA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Excelsior, with the one closest to Excelsior listed first.
- Harpers Ferry
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harpers Ferry
- Harpers Ferry is located in Allamakee County (IA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 326 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harpers Ferry <2>
- Waukon Junction
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waukon Junction
- Waukon Junction is located in Allamakee County (IA)
- Lansing
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lansing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lansing
- Lansing is located in Allamakee County (IA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 933 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lansing <2>
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Excelsior, see our County-by-County Page for Excelsior.
Newspapers Published in Excelsior ...
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 149 newspapers that have been published in the area around Excelsior.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Excelsior, 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 Excelsior.
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 websites either 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 Excelsior:
- Websites specific to Wisconsin
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Website for the //www.wisconsinhistory.org/
- Pages specific to Richland County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Crawford County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Grant County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Iowa County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Sauk County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Vernon County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Allamakee County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Crawford County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Wisconsin
- Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Cyndi's List
- Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Cemeteries of Richland County
- FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Find-A-Grave: Home Page
- Interment.net
- Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Cemeteries of Richland County
Cemeteries Near Excelsior ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Excelsior.
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 Excelsior covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Excelsior, with the one closest to Excelsior listed first.
- Haskins Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Haskins Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Haskins Cemetery
- West Fork Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Fork Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Fork Cemetery
- Tavera Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tavera Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tavera Cemetery
- St. Patrick Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Patrick Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Patrick Cemetery
- Sand Prairie Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sand Prairie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sand Prairie Cemetery
- Coumbe Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Coumbe Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Coumbe Cemetery
- Greenwood Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwood Cemetery
- Methodist Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Methodist Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Methodist Cemetery
- Steele Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Steele Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Steele Cemetery
- Blue River Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blue River Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blue River Cemetery
- Five Points Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Five Points Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Five Points Cemetery
- Union Hill Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Hill Cemetery
- Continue List (214 more) ...
- Wayne Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wayne Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wayne Cemetery
- Basswood Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Basswood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Basswood Cemetery
- St. Phillips Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Phillips Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Phillips Cemetery
- Wayne Cemetery
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.<4>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Excelsior had a population of 167 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Excelsior, with the one closest to Excelsior listed first.
- Westport
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Byrds Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Byrds Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byrds Creek
- Byrds Creek is located in Richland County
- Five Points
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Points have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
- Five Points is located in Richland County
- Blue River
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blue River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue River
- Blue River is located in Grant County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 418 people
- Basswood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Boaz
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Boscobel
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Balmoral
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - North Clayton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Clayton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Clayton
- North Clayton is located in Crawford County
- Muscoda
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Orion
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east) - Mill Creek ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mill Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Creek
- Mill Creek is located in Richland County
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Bell Center
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bell Center have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell Center
- Bell Center is located in Crawford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 114 people
- Sylvan
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north) - Homer
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Bell Center
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Excelsior. See our List of 1890's Communities around Excelsior.
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Excelsior. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Richland County: www.co.richland.wi.us/
The official website for State of Wisconsin: https://www.wisconsin.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Excelsior) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Excelsior. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.2516, Longitude: -90.6282 In this case, the coordinates for Excelsior have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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 Excelsior, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |