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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 Grafton (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 Grafton. 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 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.

Grafton is located in Ozaukee 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 Ozaukee County: Milwaukee, Sheboygan, Washington & Waukesha.

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

  • Ozaukee County     (The home county of Grafton)
  • Dodge County
  • Fond du Lac County
  • Milwaukee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grafton, with the one closest to Grafton listed first.
    • Bayside
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Bayside is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayside
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,326 people
    • Brown Deer
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Brown Deer is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Deer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,191 people
    • River Hills
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • River Hills is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,575 people
    • Fox Point
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Fox Point is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Point
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,628 people
    • Glendale
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Glendale is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,775 people
    • West Granville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Whitefish Bay
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Shorewood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Shorewood is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorewood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,117 people
    • Wauwatosa
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Milwaukee
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • West Allis
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • West Milwaukee
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • West Milwaukee is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Milwaukee
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,090 people
    • Greenfield
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
  • Sheboygan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grafton, with the one closest to Grafton listed first.
    • Random Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Cedar Grove
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Cedar Grove is located in Sheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,115 people
    • Adell
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Adell is located in Sheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 508 people
    • Oostburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Cascade
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Waldo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Ourtown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Plymouth
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Sheboygan Falls
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Kohler
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Washington County
  • Waukesha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grafton, with the one closest to Grafton listed first.
    • Menomonee Falls
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Fussville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Fussville is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fussville
    • Butler
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Butler is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,795 people
    • Lannon
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Lannon is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lannon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,284 people
    • Sussex
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Elm Grove
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Brookfield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Brookfield is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 39,164 people
    • Calhoun
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Calhoun is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calhoun
    • Merton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Merton is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,812 people
    • Pewaukee
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Pewaukee is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pewaukee
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,703 people
    • Pewaukee
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Pewaukee is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pewaukee
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,099 people
    • Chenequa
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Chenequa is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chenequa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 606 people
    • Hartland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Hartland is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,338 people

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

Cemeteries Near Grafton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Grafton.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Grafton, with the one closest to Grafton 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 Grafton had a population of 434 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Grafton had a population of 11,758 people.

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

  • Ulao
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Cedarburg
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Horns Corners
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Saukville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Saukville is located in Ozaukee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saukville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,437 people
  • Thiensville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Port Washington
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Kirchhayn
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Kirchhayn is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirchhayn
  • Freistadt
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Mequon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Rockfield
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Newburg
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Druecker
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Druecker is located in Ozaukee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Druecker
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...
    • Myra
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Granville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Granville is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granville
    • Brown Deer
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Brown Deer is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Deer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,191 people

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Grafton ...

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 325 newspapers that have been published in the area around Grafton.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Grafton. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Grafton and those printed in the larger area surrounding Grafton.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3> of Grafton.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Grafton:

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 Grafton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 from Point A (ie- Grafton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.