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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 Iron Ridge (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 Iron Ridge. 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 Iron Ridge ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Iron Ridge: Iron Rdg. (or less commonly used: Iron Rdge. or Iron Ridg.)

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

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.

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 doctors and 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.

Iron Ridge is located in Dodge 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 Dodge County: Columbia, Dane, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Jefferson, Washington & Waukesha.

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

  • Dodge County     (The home county of Iron Ridge)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Iron Ridge, with the one closest to Iron Ridge listed first.
    • Neda
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Woodland
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Huilsburg
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Rubicon
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hustisford
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Hustisford is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hustisford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,060 people
    • Mayville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Mayville is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,829 people
    • Horicon
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Horicon is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horicon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,680 people
    • Neosho
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Kekoskee
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Kekoskee is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kekoskee
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 891 people
    • Minnesota Junction
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Juneau
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Theresa
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Iron Ridge, with the one closest to Iron Ridge listed first.
    • Columbus
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Fall River
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Englewood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Friesland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Friesland is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friesland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 341 people
    • Cambria
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • Doylestown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Fond du Lac County
  • Green Lake County
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Iron Ridge, with the one closest to Iron Ridge listed first.
    • Ixonia
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Ixonia is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ixonia
    • Lac La Belle
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Lac La Belle is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lac La Belle
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 302 people
    • Watertown
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Lake Lac La Belle
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Lake Lac La Belle is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Lac La Belle
    • Grellton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Concord
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Concord is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
    • Farmington
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Johnson Creek
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Sullivan
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Sullivan is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sullivan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 666 people
    • Milford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Waterloo
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Helenville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Milwaukee County
  • Ozaukee County
  • Sheboygan County
  • Washington County
  • Waukesha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Iron Ridge, with the one closest to Iron Ridge listed first.
    • Monterey
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Stonebank
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Okauchee Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Okauchee Lake is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Okauchee Lake
    • Chenequa
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Chenequa is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chenequa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 606 people
    • Oconomowoc
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Oconomowoc is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oconomowoc
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,160 people
    • Okauchee
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Merton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Merton is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,812 people
    • Nashotah
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Oconomowoc Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Oconomowoc Lake is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oconomowoc Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 606 people
    • Hartland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Hartland is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,338 people
    • Delafield
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Delafield is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delafield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,559 people
    • Summit Center
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Iron Ridge ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Iron Ridge.

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 Iron Ridge - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Iron Ridge, with the one closest to Iron Ridge 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 Iron Ridge had a population of 184 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Iron Ridge had a population of 884 people.

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

  • Woodland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Huilsburg
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Hustisford
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hustisford is located in Dodge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hustisford
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,060 people
  • Neosho
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Horicon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Horicon is located in Dodge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horicon
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,680 people
  • Mayville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Mayville is located in Dodge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,829 people
  • Nenno
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Nenno is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nenno
  • Addison
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Addison is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Addison
  • Minnesota Junction
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Juneau
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Kekoskee
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Kekoskee is located in Dodge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kekoskee
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 891 people
  • Hartford
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Iron Ridge ...

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 126 newspapers that have been published in the area around Iron Ridge.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Iron Ridge, 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 Iron Ridge.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Iron Ridge:

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