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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 Mason (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 Mason. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Mason is located in Bayfield 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 Bayfield County: Ashland, Douglas, Sawyer & Washburn.

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

  • Bayfield County     (The home county of Mason)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mason, with the one closest to Mason listed first.
    • Benoit
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Benoit is located in Bayfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benoit
    • Sutherland
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Sutherland is located in Bayfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sutherland
    • Moquah
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Moquah is located in Bayfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moquah
    • Delta
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Delta is located in Bayfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta
    • Washburn
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Washburn is located in Bayfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washburn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,049 people
    • Cable
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Cable is located in Bayfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cable
    • Bayfield
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Bayfield is located in Bayfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 474 people
  • Ashland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mason, with the one closest to Mason listed first.
    • Marengo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Marengo is located in Ashland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marengo
    • White River
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • White River is located in Ashland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White River
    • Ashland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Ashland is located in Ashland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,766 people
    • High Bridge
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • High Bridge is located in Ashland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Bridge
    • Mellen
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Mellen is located in Ashland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mellen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 686 people
    • White City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • White City is located in Ashland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
    • Tannery Town
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Tannery Town is located in Ashland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tannery Town
    • Odanah
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Odanah is located in Ashland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odanah
    • La Pointe
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • La Pointe is located in Ashland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Pointe
  • Douglas County
    • Lake Nebagamon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Lake Nebagamon is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Nebagamon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,064 people
  • Iron County
    • Cedar
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Cedar is located in Iron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar
  • Sawyer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mason, with the one closest to Mason listed first.
    • Seeley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Seeley is located in Sawyer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seeley
    • Phipps
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Phipps is located in Sawyer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phipps

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

Cemeteries Near Mason ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mason.

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

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

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

  • Mason Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Moe Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Peters Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Birch Lake Church Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Pike River Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Maple Grove Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Mt. Hope Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Agnes Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • B'nai Israel Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Woodland Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Cemetery
    • The Woodland Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Woodlawn Cemetery
  • City Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (30 more) ...
    • Greenwood Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • St. Anne Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Odanah Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Mason had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Mason had a population of 99 people.

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

  • Benoit
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Benoit is located in Bayfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benoit
  • Sanborn
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Sanborn is located in Ashland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanborn
  • Ino
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Ino is located in Bayfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ino
  • Pike River
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Pike River is located in Bayfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pike River
  • Moquah
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Moquah is located in Bayfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moquah
  • Ashland Junction
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Ashland Junction is located in Bayfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland Junction
  • Drummond
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Drummond is located in Bayfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drummond
  • Marengo
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Marengo is located in Ashland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marengo
  • White River
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • White River is located in Ashland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White River
  • Ashland
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Ashland is located in Ashland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,766 people
  • High Bridge
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • High Bridge is located in Ashland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Bridge
  • Topside
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Topside is located in Bayfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topside
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Washburn
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Washburn is located in Bayfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washburn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,049 people
    • Iron River
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Iron River is located in Bayfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron River
    • Cable
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Cable is located in Bayfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cable

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

Newspapers Published in Mason ...

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 44 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mason.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mason, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mason.

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 Mason:

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 Mason, 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' (or 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- Mason) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.