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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 Highwood (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 Highwood. 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.

Highwood 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 Highwood. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Highwood:

  • Dane County     (The home county of Highwood)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highwood, with the one closest to Highwood listed first.
    • Edgerton Beach Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Edgerton Beach Park is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerton Beach Park
    • Albion
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Albion is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
    • Rockdale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Rockdale is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
    • Hanerville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Hanerville is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanerville
    • Dunkirk
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Dunkirk is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunkirk
    • Cambridge
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Cambridge is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,538 people
    • Stoughton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Stoughton is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoughton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,218 people
    • Deerfield
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Deerfield is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,540 people
    • Door Creek
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Door Creek is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Door Creek
    • Stone
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Stone is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone
    • Hope
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Hope is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
    • Brooklyn
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Brooklyn is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,484 people
  • Green County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highwood, with the one closest to Highwood listed first.
    • Albany
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Albany is located in Green County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albany
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 977 people
    • Brodhead
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Brodhead is located in Green County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brodhead
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,204 people
    • Mineral Point
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Mineral Point is located in Green County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Point
    • Attica
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Attica is located in Green County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attica
    • Dayton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Dayton is located in Green County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayton
    • Monticello
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Monticello is located in Green County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monticello
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,185 people
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highwood, with the one closest to Highwood listed first.
    • Carcajou
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Carcajou is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carcajou
    • Lake Koshkonong
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Lake Koshkonong is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Koshkonong
    • Lake Ripley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Lake Ripley is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ripley
    • Fort Atkinson
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Fort Atkinson is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Atkinson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,372 people
    • Cold Spring
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Cold Spring is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Spring
    • Jefferson
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jefferson is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,037 people
    • Lake Mills
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Lake Mills is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Mills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,014 people
    • Hebron
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Hebron is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
    • Milford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Milford is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
    • Helenville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Helenville is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helenville
    • Johnson Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Johnson Creek is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,065 people
    • Palmyra
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Palmyra is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmyra
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,746 people
  • Rock County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highwood, with the one closest to Highwood listed first.
    • Edgerton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Edgerton is located in Rock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,595 people
    • Indianford
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Indianford is located in Rock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indianford
    • Milton Junction
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Milton Junction is located in Rock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton Junction
    • Milton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Milton is located in Rock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,643 people
    • Fulton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Fulton is located in Rock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
    • Lima Center
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Lima Center is located in Rock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lima Center
    • Cooksville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Cooksville is located in Rock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooksville
    • Janesville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Janesville is located in Rock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Janesville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 64,664 people
    • Johnstown Center
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Johnstown Center is located in Rock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown Center
    • Union
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Union is located in Rock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
    • Emerald Grove
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Emerald Grove is located in Rock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald Grove
    • Evansville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Evansville is located in Rock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evansville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,556 people
  • Walworth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highwood, with the one closest to Highwood listed first.
    • Whitewater
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Whitewater is located in Walworth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitewater
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,993 people
    • Richmond
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Richmond is located in Walworth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond
    • Heart Prairie
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Heart Prairie is located in Walworth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heart Prairie
    • La Grange
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • La Grange is located in Walworth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Grange
    • Allens Grove
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Allens Grove is located in Walworth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allens Grove
    • Darien
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Darien is located in Walworth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darien
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,591 people
    • Lauderdale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Lauderdale is located in Walworth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lauderdale
    • Little Prairie
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Little Prairie is located in Walworth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Prairie
    • Delavan
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Delavan is located in Walworth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delavan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,240 people
    • Adams
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Adams is located in Walworth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams
    • Delavan Lake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Delavan Lake is located in Walworth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delavan Lake
    • Elkhorn
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Elkhorn is located in Walworth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,020 people
  • Waukesha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highwood, with the one closest to Highwood listed first.
    • Eagle
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Eagle is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,193 people
    • Dousman
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Dousman is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dousman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,317 people
    • Eagleville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Eagleville is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagleville
    • Summit
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Summit is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,255 people
    • Ottawa
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Ottawa is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottawa
  • Winnebago County (IL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highwood, with the one closest to Highwood listed first.
    • South Beloit
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Rockton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Rockton is located in Winnebago County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,477 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rockton <1>
    • Roscoe
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Roscoe is located in Winnebago County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscoe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,406 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roscoe <1>
    • Shirland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Highwood ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Highwood.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Highwood, with the one closest to Highwood listed first.

  • Rock River Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Sweet Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Fassett Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Busseyville Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Jenson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Albion Prairie Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Otter Creek Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Fulton Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Milton Junction Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (206 more) ...
    • Milton Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Wheeler Prairie Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Union Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)

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>

While we didn't find Highwood in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Highwood.

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

  • Albion
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Albion is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
  • Edgerton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Edgerton is located in Rock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,595 people
  • Indianford
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Indianford is located in Rock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indianford
  • Koshkonong
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Koshkonong is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Koshkonong
  • Fulton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Fulton is located in Rock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
  • Milton Junction
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Milton Junction is located in Rock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton Junction
  • Milton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Milton is located in Rock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,643 people
  • Rockdale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Rockdale is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
  • Hanerville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Hanerville is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanerville
  • Stebbinsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Stebbinsville is located in Rock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stebbinsville
  • Utica
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Utica is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utica
  • Leyden
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Leyden is located in Rock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leyden
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Lima Center
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Lima Center is located in Rock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lima Center
    • Fort Atkinson
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Fort Atkinson is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Atkinson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,372 people
    • Cambridge
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Cambridge is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,538 people

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

Newspapers Published in Highwood ...

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 139 newspapers that have been published in the area around Highwood.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Highwood, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Highwood.

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 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 Highwood:

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