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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 Milwaukee (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 Milwaukee. 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 Milwaukee ...

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.

Another variation: Milwaukie.

  • In past government published Postal Guides, Milwaukee was referred to as Milwaukee Courthouse.

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

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.

For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.

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.

Milwaukee is primarily located in Milwaukee County and is the County Seat. A portion of Milwaukee extends into Washington County and Waukesha 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 Milwaukee County: Ozaukee, Racine, Washington & Waukesha.

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

  • Milwaukee County     (The home county of Milwaukee)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Milwaukee, with the one closest to Milwaukee listed first.
    • West Milwaukee
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • West Milwaukee is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Milwaukee
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,090 people
    • Shorewood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Shorewood is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorewood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,117 people
    • Wauwatosa
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • West Allis
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Whitefish Bay
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Saint Francis
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Greenfield
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Glendale
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Glendale is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,775 people
    • Cudahy
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Cudahy is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cudahy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,077 people
    • Greendale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Greendale is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greendale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,127 people
    • Fox Point
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Fox Point is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Point
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,628 people
    • Brown Deer
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Brown Deer is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Deer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,191 people
    • Hales Corners
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Hales Corners is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hales Corners
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,553 people
  • Kenosha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Milwaukee, with the one closest to Milwaukee listed first.
    • Somers
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Somers is located in Kenosha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somers
    • Brighton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Paris
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Ozaukee County
  • Racine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Milwaukee, with the one closest to Milwaukee listed first.
    • Caledonia
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Kneeland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Raymond
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Wind Lake
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Franksville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Franksville is located in Racine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franksville
    • Wind Point
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Wind Point is located in Racine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wind Point
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,685 people
    • North Bay
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • North Bay is located in Racine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bay
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 233 people
    • Yorkville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Yorkville is located in Racine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkville
    • Mount Pleasant
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Racine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,048 people
    • Racine
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Caldwell
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Sturtevant
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Waterford
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Waterford is located in Racine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,618 people
  • Walworth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Milwaukee, with the one closest to Milwaukee listed first.
    • Lake Beulah
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Potter Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Potter Lake is located in Walworth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potter Lake
    • East Troy
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Washington County
  • Waukesha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Milwaukee, with the one closest to Milwaukee listed first.
    • Elm Grove
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Butler
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Butler is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,795 people
    • New Berlin
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Brookfield
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Brookfield is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 39,164 people
    • Calhoun
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Calhoun is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calhoun
    • Fussville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Fussville is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fussville
    • Tess Corners
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Menomonee Falls
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Durham
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Prospect
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Lannon
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Lannon is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lannon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,284 people
    • Muskego
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Muskego is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muskego
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,317 people
    • Waukesha
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Milwaukee ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Milwaukee.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Milwaukee, with the one closest to Milwaukee 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 Milwaukee had a population of 204,468 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Milwaukee had a population of 589,067 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Milwaukee ...

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 338 newspapers that have been published in the area around Milwaukee.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Milwaukee. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Milwaukee and those printed in the larger area surrounding Milwaukee.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<3> of Milwaukee.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Milwaukee:

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 Milwaukee, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Milwaukee) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.