RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Wisconsin >> Dunn County >> Menomonie >> 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 Menomonie (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 Menomonie. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.

Menomonie is located in Dunn County and is the County Seat.

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 Dunn County: Barron, Chippewa, Eau Claire, Pepin, Pierce, Polk & Saint Croix.

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

  • Dunn County     (The home county of Menomonie)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Menomonie, with the one closest to Menomonie listed first.
    • Tainter Lake
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Tainter Lake is located in Dunn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tainter Lake
    • Knapp
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Falls City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Falls City is located in Dunn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls City
    • Dunnville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Elk Mound
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Elk Mound is located in Dunn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Mound
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 884 people
    • Wheeler
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Wheeler is located in Dunn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 353 people
    • Meridean
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Colfax
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Colfax is located in Dunn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colfax
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,151 people
    • Boyceville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Eau Galle
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Downing
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Rock Falls
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Ridgeland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Ridgeland is located in Dunn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 276 people
  • Barron County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Menomonie, with the one closest to Menomonie listed first.
    • Prairie Farm
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Prairie Farm is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Farm
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 434 people
    • Dallas
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Hillsdale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Buffalo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Menomonie, with the one closest to Menomonie listed first.
    • Maxville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Savoy ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Savoy is located in Buffalo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savoy
    • Mondovi
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Springdale ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Springdale is located in Buffalo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springdale
    • Gilmanton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Chippewa County
  • Eau Claire County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Menomonie, with the one closest to Menomonie listed first.
    • Lufkin
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Shawtown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Eau Claire
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Altoona
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Altoona is located in Eau Claire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altoona
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,062 people
    • Seymour
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Seymour is located in Eau Claire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seymour
  • Pepin County
  • Pierce County
  • Saint Croix County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Menomonie, with the one closest to Menomonie listed first.
    • Wilson
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Hersey
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Glenwood City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Glenwood City is located in Saint Croix County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,214 people
    • Woodville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Baldwin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Hammond
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Erin Corner
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Trempealeau County
    • Eleva
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Menomonie ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Menomonie.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Menomonie, with the one closest to Menomonie 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 Menomonie had a population of 5,491 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Menomonie had a population of 16,599 people.

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

  • North Menomonie
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • North Menomonie is located in Dunn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Menomonie
  • Menomonie Junction
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Menomonie Junction is located in Dunn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menomonie Junction
  • Rusk
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Rusk is located in Dunn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rusk
  • Cedar Falls
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Cedar Falls is located in Dunn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Falls
  • Downsville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Downsville is located in Dunn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downsville
  • Knapp
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Dunnville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Hatchville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Hatchville is located in Dunn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatchville
  • Meridean
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Elk Mound
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Elk Mound is located in Dunn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Mound
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 884 people
  • Wheeler
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Wheeler is located in Dunn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 353 people
  • Elmwood
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Boyceville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Colfax
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Colfax is located in Dunn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colfax
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,151 people
    • Eau Galle
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Menomonie ...

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 102 newspapers that have been published in the area around Menomonie.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Menomonie. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Menomonie and those printed in the larger area surrounding Menomonie.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Menomonie.

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 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 Menomonie:

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