RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Wisconsin >> Crawford County >> Petersburg >> 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 Petersburg (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 Petersburg. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals 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.

Petersburg is located in Crawford 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 Crawford County: Allamakee (IA), Clayton (IA), Grant, Richland & Vernon.

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

  • Crawford County     (The home county of Petersburg)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Petersburg, with the one closest to Petersburg listed first.
    • Bell Center
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Gays Mills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Gays Mills is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gays Mills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 504 people
    • Mount Sterling
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Mount Sterling is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Sterling
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 196 people
    • Steuben
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Soldiers Grove
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Soldiers Grove is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soldiers Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 535 people
    • Towerville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Rising Sun
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Boydtown
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Eastman
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Eastman is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 404 people
    • Wauzeka
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Wauzeka is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wauzeka
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 733 people
    • Ferryville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Ferryville is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferryville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 173 people
    • Freeman
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Freeman is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
    • Charme
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Charme is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charme
  • Grant County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Petersburg, with the one closest to Petersburg listed first.
    • Boscobel
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Boscobel is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boscobel
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,134 people
    • Woodman
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Woodman is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
    • Blue River
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Blue River is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue River
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 418 people
    • Millville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Werley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Werley is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Werley
    • Muscoda
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Muscoda is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscoda
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,236 people
    • Mount Hope
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Mount Hope is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
    • Mount Ida
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Fennimore
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Patch Grove
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Patch Grove is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patch Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 192 people
    • Preston
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Bloomington
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Bloomington is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 702 people
    • Stitzer
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Iowa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Petersburg, with the one closest to Petersburg listed first.
    • Avoca
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Avoca is located in Iowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 620 people
    • Centreville ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Highland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Richland County
  • Vernon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Petersburg, with the one closest to Petersburg listed first.
    • Readstown
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Readstown is located in Vernon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Readstown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 414 people
    • Fargo
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Liberty Pole
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • West Prairie
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • West Prairie is located in Vernon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Prairie
    • Liberty
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Liberty is located in Vernon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
    • Retreat
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Viroqua
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Viroqua is located in Vernon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viroqua
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,394 people
    • Purdy
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • La Farge
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Newton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Westby
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Genoa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Chaseburg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Allamakee County (IA)
  • Clayton County (IA)

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

Cemeteries Near Petersburg ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Petersburg.

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

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

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

  • Crow Hollow Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Bell Center Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Haney Valley Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Barnum Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Gays Mills Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Haney Ridge Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Whiteaker Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Graves Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Union Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Mt. Sterling Lutheran Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (226 more) ...
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Posey Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Mook Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 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>

While we didn't find Petersburg in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Petersburg.

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

  • Bell Center
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Mount Sterling
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Mount Sterling is located in Crawford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Sterling
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 196 people
  • Steuben
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Seneca
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Seneca is located in Crawford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seneca
  • Soldiers Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Soldiers Grove is located in Crawford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soldiers Grove
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 535 people
  • Towerville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • North Clayton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • North Clayton is located in Crawford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Clayton
  • Westport
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Westport is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westport
  • Excelsior
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Excelsior is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Excelsior
  • Folsom
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Folsom is located in Vernon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Folsom
  • Eastman
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Eastman is located in Crawford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastman
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 404 people
  • Boydtown
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Boscobel
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Boscobel is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boscobel
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,134 people
    • Rising Sun
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Woodman
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Woodman is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people

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

Newspapers Published in Petersburg ...

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 153 newspapers that have been published in the area around Petersburg.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Petersburg, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Petersburg.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Petersburg:

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