RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Wisconsin >> Walworth County >> Lake Geneva >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Lake Geneva (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 Lake Geneva. 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 Lake Geneva ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Lake Geneva: Lk. Geneva

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

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 northwest 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 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.

Lake Geneva is located in Walworth 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 Walworth County: Boone (IL), McHenry (IL), Jefferson, Kenosha, Racine, Rock & Waukesha.

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

  • Walworth County     (The home county of Lake Geneva)
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Geneva, with the one closest to Lake Geneva listed first.
    • Palmyra
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Palmyra is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmyra
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,746 people
    • Cold Spring
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hebron
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Hebron is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
    • Rome
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Rome is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rome
    • Sullivan
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Sullivan is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sullivan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 666 people
  • Kenosha County
  • Milwaukee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Geneva, with the one closest to Lake Geneva listed first.
    • Union Church
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Saint Martins
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Franklin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Franklin is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35,925 people
    • Hales Corners
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Hales Corners is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hales Corners
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,553 people
  • Racine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Geneva, with the one closest to Lake Geneva listed first.
    • Bohners Lake
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Bohners Lake is located in Racine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bohners Lake
    • Burlington
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Burlington is located in Racine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,898 people
    • Browns Lake
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Browns Lake is located in Racine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Lake
    • Honey Creek
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Rochester
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Waterford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Waterford is located in Racine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,618 people
    • Eagle Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Eagle Lake is located in Racine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Lake
    • Caldwell
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Union Grove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Union Grove is located in Racine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,266 people
    • Wind Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Yorkville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Yorkville is located in Racine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkville
    • Raymond
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Rock County
  • Waukesha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Geneva, with the one closest to Lake Geneva listed first.
    • Eagleville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Eagle
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Mukwonago
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Mukwonago is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mukwonago
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,107 people
    • North Prairie
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • North Prairie is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Prairie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,236 people
    • Big Bend
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Big Bend is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,487 people
    • Vernon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Vernon is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
    • Genesee
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Genesee is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genesee
    • Muskego
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Muskego is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muskego
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,317 people
    • Genesee Depot
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Ottawa
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Durham
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Prospect
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Boone County (IL)
  • Lake County (IL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Geneva, with the one closest to Lake Geneva listed first.
    • Channel Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Channel Lake is located in Lake County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Channel Lake
    • Fox Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Catherine
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Lake Catherine is located in Lake County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Catherine
    • Fox Lake Hills
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Fox Lake Hills is located in Lake County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Lake Hills
    • Antioch
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Antioch is located in Lake County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antioch
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,174 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Antioch <1>
    • Ingleside
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Villa
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Long Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Long Lake is located in Lake County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake
    • Monaville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Round Lake Heights
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Volo
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Volo is located in Lake County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,042 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Volo <1>
    • Lindenhurst
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Lindenhurst is located in Lake County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lindenhurst
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,117 people
      • Lindenhurst has also been known as:
      • Lindenhurst village
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lindenhurst <1>
  • McHenry County (IL)
  • Winnebago County (IL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Geneva, with the one closest to Lake Geneva listed first.
    • Argyle
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Argyle is located in Winnebago County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
    • South Beloit
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Lake Geneva ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lake Geneva.

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 Lake Geneva - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Lake Geneva, with the one closest to Lake Geneva 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Lake Geneva had a population of 2,297 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Lake Geneva had a population of 8,096 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Lake Geneva ...

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 121 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lake Geneva.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Lake Geneva. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Lake Geneva and those printed in the larger area surrounding Lake Geneva.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<2> of Lake Geneva.

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 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 Lake Geneva:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Lake Geneva) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Lake Geneva, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.