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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 Fairchild (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 Fairchild. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Fairchild is located in Eau Claire 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 Eau Claire County: Buffalo, Chippewa, Clark, Dunn, Jackson, Pepin & Trempealeau.

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

  • Eau Claire County     (The home county of Fairchild)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fairchild, with the one closest to Fairchild listed first.
    • Hay Creek
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Augusta
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Augusta is located in Eau Claire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Augusta
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,517 people
    • Fall Creek
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Fall Creek is located in Eau Claire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,291 people
    • Allen
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Altoona
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Altoona is located in Eau Claire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altoona
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,062 people
    • Seymour
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Seymour is located in Eau Claire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seymour
    • Eau Claire
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Chippewa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fairchild, with the one closest to Fairchild listed first.
    • Boyd
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Boyd is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 528 people
    • Cadott
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Cadott is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cadott
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,411 people
    • Stanley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Stanley is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,705 people
    • Lake Wissota
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Lake Wissota is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Wissota
    • Lake Hallie
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Lake Hallie is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Hallie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,779 people
  • Clark County
  • Crawford County
    • Lynxville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Lynxville is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynxville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 125 people
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fairchild, with the one closest to Fairchild listed first.
    • Levis
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Requa
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Alma Center
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Alma Center is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma Center
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 491 people
    • Merrillan
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Merrillan is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrillan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 522 people
    • York
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Hixton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Sechlerville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Hatfield
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Taylor
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Taylor is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 473 people
    • Black River Falls
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Pray
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Trempealeau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fairchild, with the one closest to Fairchild listed first.
    • Osseo
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Pigeon Falls
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Coral City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Coral City is located in Trempealeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coral City
    • Strum
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Whitehall
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Whitehall is located in Trempealeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitehall
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,565 people
    • Blair
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Blair is located in Trempealeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blair
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,330 people
    • Eleva
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Independence
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Independence is located in Trempealeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,291 people
    • Russell
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • New City ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • New City is located in Trempealeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New City

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

Cemeteries Near Fairchild ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fairchild.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Fairchild, with the one closest to Fairchild 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.<1>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Fairchild had a population of 645 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Fairchild had a population of 607 people.

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

  • Price
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Price is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Price
  • Humbird
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Levis
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Augusta
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Augusta is located in Eau Claire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Augusta
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,517 people
  • North Branch
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • North Branch is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Branch
  • Northfield
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Northfield is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northfield
  • Alma Center
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Alma Center is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma Center
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 491 people
  • Merrillan
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Merrillan is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrillan
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 522 people
  • Osseo
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • York
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Hixton
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Globe
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Fairchild ...

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 47 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fairchild.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Fairchild. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Fairchild and those printed in the larger area surrounding Fairchild.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2> of Fairchild.

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 Fairchild:

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 Fairchild, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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- Fairchild) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.