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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Oak Creek (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 Oak Creek. 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 Oak Creek ...

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 Oak Creek: Oak Crk. (or less commonly used: Oak Ck. or Oak Cr.)

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

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Oak Creek is located in Milwaukee 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 Oak Creek. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Oak Creek:

  • Milwaukee County     (The home county of Oak Creek)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Creek, with the one closest to Oak Creek listed first.
    • South Milwaukee
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Cudahy
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Cudahy is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cudahy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,077 people
    • Saint Francis
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Greendale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Greendale is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greendale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,127 people
    • Franklin
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Franklin is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35,925 people
    • Greenfield
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Martins
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Milwaukee
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • West Milwaukee
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • West Milwaukee is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Milwaukee
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,090 people
    • Hales Corners
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Hales Corners is located in Milwaukee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hales Corners
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,553 people
    • Union Church
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • West Allis
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Wauwatosa
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Kenosha County
  • Ozaukee County
  • Racine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Creek, with the one closest to Oak Creek listed first.
    • Caledonia
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Wind Point
      (8 miles [12.9 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
    • Kneeland
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Franksville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Franksville is located in Racine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franksville
    • North Bay
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • North Bay is located in Racine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bay
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 233 people
    • Raymond
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Mount Pleasant
      (11 miles [17.7 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
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Yorkville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Yorkville is located in Racine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkville
    • Elmwood Park
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Sturtevant
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Wind Lake
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Union Grove
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Union Grove is located in Racine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,266 people
  • Walworth County
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Creek, with the one closest to Oak Creek listed first.
    • Germantown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Germantown is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germantown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,057 people
    • Rockfield
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Five
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Richfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Waukesha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Creek, with the one closest to Oak Creek listed first.
    • Durham
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Tess Corners
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • New Berlin
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Muskego
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Muskego is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muskego
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,317 people
    • Calhoun
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Calhoun is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calhoun
    • Elm Grove
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Prospect
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Brookfield
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Brookfield is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 39,164 people
    • Big Bend
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Big Bend is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,487 people
    • Butler
      (18 miles [29 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
    • Vernon
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Vernon is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
    • Waukesha
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Fussville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Fussville is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fussville
  • Lake County (IL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Creek, with the one closest to Oak Creek listed first.
    • Fossland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Russell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Winthrop Harbor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Antioch
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • 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>
    • Beach Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Zion
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Oak Creek ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oak Creek.

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 Oak Creek - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Oak Creek, with the one closest to Oak Creek 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 Oak Creek had a population of 397 people in 1895 with railroad service and no post office. In 2020, Oak Creek had a population of 36,469 people.

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

  • South Milwaukee
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Oakwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Oakwood is located in Milwaukee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
  • Husher
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Husher is located in Racine County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Husher
  • Tabor
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Tabor is located in Racine County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabor
  • Saint Francis
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Caledonia
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Kilbournville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Kilbournville is located in Racine County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kilbournville
  • Kneeland
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Thompsonville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Thompsonville is located in Racine County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompsonville
  • Raymond
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Franksville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Franksville is located in Racine County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franksville
  • Saint Martins
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Oak Creek ...

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 69 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oak Creek.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Oak Creek. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Oak Creek and those printed in the larger area surrounding Oak Creek.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3> of Oak Creek.

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 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 Oak Creek:

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>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.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Oak Creek) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Oak Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.