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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 Galesville (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 Galesville. 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 Galesville ...

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.

In past government published Postal Guides, Galesville was referred to as Galesville Courthouse.

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

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.

For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.

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 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.

Galesville is located in Trempealeau 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 Trempealeau County: Winona (MN), Buffalo, Eau Claire, Jackson & La Crosse.

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

  • Trempealeau County     (The home county of Galesville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Galesville, with the one closest to Galesville listed first.
    • Frenchville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Wrights Corners
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Trempealeau
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Trempealeau is located in Trempealeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trempealeau
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,663 people
    • Ettrick
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Ettrick is located in Trempealeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ettrick
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 511 people
    • Arcadia
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Blair
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Blair is located in Trempealeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blair
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,330 people
    • New City ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • New City is located in Trempealeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New City
    • Independence
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Independence is located in Trempealeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,291 people
    • Whitehall
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Whitehall is located in Trempealeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitehall
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,565 people
    • Coral City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Coral City is located in Trempealeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coral City
    • Pigeon Falls
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Russell
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
  • Buffalo County
  • Jackson County
  • La Crosse County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Galesville, with the one closest to Galesville listed first.
    • Holmen
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Holmen is located in La Crosse County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,368 people
    • Brice Prairie
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Brice Prairie is located in La Crosse County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brice Prairie
    • Midway
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Mindoro
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Onalaska
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • French Island
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Grand Crossing
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • North La Crosse
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • North La Crosse is located in La Crosse County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North La Crosse
    • West Salem
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • La Crosse
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Barre Mills
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Bangor
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Bangor is located in La Crosse County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bangor
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,442 people
    • Shelby
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Shelby is located in La Crosse County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelby
  • Monroe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Galesville, with the one closest to Galesville listed first.
    • Sparta
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Angelo
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Vernon County
  • Fillmore County (MN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Galesville, with the one closest to Galesville listed first.
    • Rushford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Rushford is located in Fillmore County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rushford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,695 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rushford <1>
    • South Rushford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Rushford Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Rushford Village is located in Fillmore County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rushford Village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 838 people
  • Houston County (MN)
  • Wabasha County (MN)
  • Winona County (MN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Galesville, with the one closest to Galesville listed first.
    • Lamoille
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Dakota
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Dakota is located in Winona County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dakota
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 307 people
    • Homer
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Homer is located in Winona County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
    • Nodine
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Winona
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Wilson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Goodview
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Goodview is located in Winona County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodview
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,127 people
    • Minnesota City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Stockton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Stockton is located in Winona County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 773 people
    • Wyattville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Rollingstone
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Lewiston
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Altura
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Altura is located in Winona County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altura
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 477 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Altura <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Galesville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Galesville.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Galesville, with the one closest to Galesville 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 Galesville had a population of 537 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Galesville had a population of 1,602 people.

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

  • Frenchville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Centerville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Centerville is located in Trempealeau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
  • Trempealeau
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Trempealeau is located in Trempealeau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trempealeau
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,663 people
  • New Amsterdam
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • New Amsterdam is located in La Crosse County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Amsterdam
  • Ettrick
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Ettrick is located in Trempealeau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ettrick
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 511 people
  • Lamoille
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Pine Creek ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Pine Creek is located in Trempealeau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Creek
  • Pickwick
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Pickwick is located in Winona County (MN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickwick
  • Holmen
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Holmen is located in La Crosse County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmen
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,368 people
  • Stevenstown
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Stevenstown is located in La Crosse County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stevenstown
  • Dodge
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Dodge is located in Trempealeau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodge
  • Homer
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Homer is located in Winona County (MN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Galesville ...

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 146 newspapers that have been published in the area around Galesville.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Galesville. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Galesville and those printed in the larger area surrounding Galesville.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4> of Galesville.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Galesville:

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