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 Plain (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 Plain. 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.
Plain is located in Sauk 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 Sauk County: Adams, Columbia, Dane, Iowa, Juneau, Richland & Vernon.
Below are the counties that are near Plain. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Plain:
- Sauk County (The home county of Plain)
- The following are listed by their distance from Plain, with the one closest to Plain listed first.
- Leland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Leland is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leland
- Witwen
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Witwen is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Witwen
- Spring Green
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Spring Green is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Green
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,630 people
- Denzer
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Denzer is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denzer
- Sandusky
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Sandusky is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandusky
- Loganville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Loganville is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loganville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 297 people
- Lime Ridge
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Lime Ridge is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime Ridge
- Population from the 2020 Census: 163 people
- Prairie du Sac village
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Prairie du Sac village is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie du Sac village
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,426 people
- Sauk City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Sauk City is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sauk City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,498 people
- North Freedom
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- North Freedom is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Freedom
- Population from the 2020 Census: 690 people
- Rock Springs
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Rock Springs is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Springs
- Population from the 2020 Census: 361 people
- Reedsburg
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Reedsburg is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedsburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,500 people
- Ironton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Ironton is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 251 people
- Columbia County
- The following are listed by their distance from Plain, with the one closest to Plain listed first.
- Okee
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Okee is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Okee
- Lake Wisconsin
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Lake Wisconsin is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Wisconsin
- Durwards Glen ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Durwards Glen is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durwards Glen
- Harmony Grove
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Harmony Grove is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Grove
- Lodi
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Lodi is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodi
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,109 people
- Wisconsin Dells
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Wisconsin Dells is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wisconsin Dells
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,061 people
- Dane County
- The following are listed by their distance from Plain, with the one closest to Plain listed first.
- Mazomanie
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Mazomanie is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mazomanie
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,715 people
- Black Earth
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Black Earth is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Earth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,422 people
- Elvers
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Elvers is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elvers
- Marxville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Marxville is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marxville
- Blue Mounds
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Blue Mounds is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Mounds
- Population from the 2020 Census: 990 people
- Cross Plains
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Cross Plains is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Plains
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,280 people
- Martinsville
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Martinsville is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsville
- Mount Horeb
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Horeb is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Horeb
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,563 people
- Klevenville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Klevenville is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klevenville
- Ashton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Ashton is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashton
- Ashton Corners
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Ashton Corners is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashton Corners
- Dane
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Dane is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dane
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,134 people
- Middleton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Middleton is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 20,195 people
- Grant County
- The following are listed by their distance from Plain, with the one closest to Plain listed first.
- Muscoda
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Muscoda is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscoda
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,236 people
- Blue River
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Blue River is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue River
- Population from the 2020 Census: 418 people
- Montfort
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Montfort is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montfort
- Population from the 2020 Census: 675 people
- Iowa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Plain, with the one closest to Plain listed first.
- Helena
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Helena is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
- Cassell
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cassell is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cassell
- Arena
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Arena is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arena
- Population from the 2020 Census: 831 people
- Hyde
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Hyde is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hyde
- Pleasant Ridge
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Pleasant Ridge is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
- Avoca
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Avoca is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
- Population from the 2020 Census: 620 people
- Ridgeway
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Ridgeway is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 635 people
- Barneveld
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Barneveld is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barneveld
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,252 people
- Dodgeville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Dodgeville is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodgeville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,677 people
- Highland
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Highland is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 826 people
- Edmund
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Edmund is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmund
- Cobb
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Cobb is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobb
- Population from the 2020 Census: 455 people
- Centreville ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Centreville is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centreville
- Former name for Centreville:
- Dry Bone
- Juneau County
- The following are listed by their distance from Plain, with the one closest to Plain listed first.
- Wonewoc
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Wonewoc is located in Juneau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wonewoc
- Population from the 2020 Census: 789 people
- Lyndon Station
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Lyndon Station is located in Juneau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyndon Station
- Population from the 2020 Census: 485 people
- Union Center
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Union Center is located in Juneau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Center
- Population from the 2020 Census: 193 people
- Richland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Plain, with the one closest to Plain listed first.
- Bear Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Bear Valley is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Valley
- Lone Rock
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Lone Rock is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 835 people
- Aubrey
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Aubrey is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aubrey
- Ithaca
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Ithaca is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ithaca
- Sextonville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Sextonville is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sextonville
- Neptune
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Neptune is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neptune
- Richland Center
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Richland Center is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland Center
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,949 people
- Cazenovia
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Cazenovia is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cazenovia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 310 people
- Hub City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Hub City is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hub City
- Balmoral
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Balmoral is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Balmoral
- Gillingham
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Gillingham is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gillingham
- Woodstock
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Woodstock is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodstock
- Boaz
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Boaz is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boaz
- Population from the 2020 Census: 148 people
- Vernon County
- Hillsboro
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Hillsboro is located in Vernon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsboro
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,387 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Plain, see our County-by-County Page for Plain.
Cemeteries Near Plain ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Plain.
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 Plain - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Plain covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Plain, with the one closest to Plain listed first.
- St. Lukes Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Pleasant Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Whitemound Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Big Hollow Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Union Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- St. Pauls Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Free Thinkers Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Blakeslee Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- St. Killian Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Old Helena Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Davis Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- St. Pauls Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (227 more) ...
- Eiffmeyer Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- St. Paul Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Ward Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
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.<1>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Plain had a population of 118 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Plain had a population of 765 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Plain, with the one closest to Plain listed first.
- Black Hawk
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Black Hawk is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Hawk
- Leland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Leland is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leland
- Spring Green
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Spring Green is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Green
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,630 people
- Helena
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Helena is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
- Bear Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Bear Valley is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Valley
- Cassell
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cassell is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cassell
- Denzer
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Denzer is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denzer
- Sandusky
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Sandusky is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandusky
- Keyesville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Keyesville is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keyesville
- Arena
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Arena is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arena
- Population from the 2020 Census: 831 people
- Wyoming
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Wyoming is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyoming
- Loganville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Loganville is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loganville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 297 people
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Ithaca
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Ithaca is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ithaca
- Sextonville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Sextonville is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sextonville
- Gotham
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Gotham is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gotham
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Plain. See our List of 1890's Communities around Plain.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Plain ...
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 152 newspapers that have been published in the area around Plain.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Plain. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Plain and those printed in the larger area surrounding Plain.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2> of Plain.
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 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 Plain:
- Websites specific to Wisconsin
- Pages specific to Sauk County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Columbia County
- Dane County
- Grant County
- Iowa County
- Juneau County
- Richland County
- Vernon County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Wisconsin
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Plain, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Plain) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |