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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 Fitchburg (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 Fitchburg. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.

Fitchburg is located in Dane 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 Dane County: Columbia, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Rock & Sauk.

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

  • Dane County     (The home county of Fitchburg)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fitchburg, with the one closest to Fitchburg listed first.
    • Syene ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Oak Hall
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Pilgrim Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Pilgrim Village is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilgrim Village
    • Madison
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Shorewood Hills
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Shorewood Hills is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorewood Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,999 people
    • Oregon
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Oregon is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oregon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,731 people
    • Verona
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Verona is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verona
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,539 people
    • McFarland
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • McFarland is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McFarland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,291 people
    • Monona
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Monona is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monona
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,164 people
    • Paoli
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Pheasant Branch
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Pheasant Branch is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Branch
    • Basco
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Maple Bluff
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Maple Bluff is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bluff
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,307 people
  • Columbia County
  • Green County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fitchburg, with the one closest to Fitchburg listed first.
    • Dayton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Attica
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • New Glarus
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Monticello
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Albany
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Albany is located in Green County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albany
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 977 people
    • Mineral Point
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Mineral Point is located in Green County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Point
    • Brodhead
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Brodhead is located in Green County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brodhead
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,204 people
    • Monroe
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Monroe is located in Green County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,426 people
  • Iowa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fitchburg, with the one closest to Fitchburg listed first.
    • Barneveld
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Barneveld is located in Iowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barneveld
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,252 people
    • Moscow
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Arena
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cassell
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hollandale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Hyde
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Ridgeway
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Ridgeway is located in Iowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 635 people
  • Jefferson County
  • Lafayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fitchburg, with the one closest to Fitchburg listed first.
    • Blanchardville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Argyle
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Argyle is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 809 people
  • Rock County
  • Sauk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fitchburg, with the one closest to Fitchburg listed first.
    • Prairie du Sac village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Sauk City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Sauk City is located in Sauk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sauk City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,498 people
    • Merrimac
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Merrimac is located in Sauk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrimac
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 441 people
    • Moon Valley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Witwen
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Fitchburg ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fitchburg.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Fitchburg, with the one closest to Fitchburg 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, Fitchburg had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Fitchburg had a population of 30,866 people.

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

  • Syene ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Lakeview
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lakeview is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Oregon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Oregon is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oregon
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,731 people
  • Madison
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Verona
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Verona is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verona
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,539 people
  • Paoli
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Basco
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Pheasant Branch
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Pheasant Branch is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Branch
  • Middleton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Middleton is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,195 people
  • West Middleton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • West Middleton is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Middleton
  • Rutland
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Rutland is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutland
  • Hope
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Hope is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
  • 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 Fitchburg. See our List of 1890's Communities around Fitchburg.

Newspapers Published in Fitchburg ...

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 249 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fitchburg.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fitchburg, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fitchburg.

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 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 Fitchburg:

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