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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 Preston (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 Preston. 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 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.

Preston is located in Grant 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 Grant County: Clayton (IA), Dubuque (IA), Jo Daviess (IL), Crawford, Iowa, Lafayette & Richland.

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

  • Grant County     (The home county of Preston)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
    • Annaton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Montfort
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Stitzer
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Fennimore
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Livingston
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Livingston is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livingston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 632 people
    • Mount Ida
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Werley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Werley is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Werley
    • Lancaster
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Boscobel
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Boscobel is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boscobel
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,134 people
    • Blue River
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Blue River is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue River
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 418 people
    • Woodman
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Woodman is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
    • Mount Hope
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Mount Hope is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
  • Crawford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
    • Boydtown
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Wauzeka
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Wauzeka is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wauzeka
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 733 people
    • Steuben
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bell Center
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Petersburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Bridgeport
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Eastman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Eastman is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 404 people
    • Gays Mills
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Gays Mills is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gays Mills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 504 people
    • Soldiers Grove
      (30 miles [48.3 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
    • Mount Sterling
      (30 miles [48.3 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
    • Prairie du Chien
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Iowa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
    • Centreville ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Highland
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Cobb
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Rewey
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Edmund
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Linden
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Linden is located in Iowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 523 people
    • Avoca
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Avoca is located in Iowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 620 people
    • Mineral Point
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Dodgeville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Dodgeville is located in Iowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodgeville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,677 people
    • Pleasant Ridge
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Ridgeway
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Ridgeway is located in Iowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 635 people
    • Helena
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Lafayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
    • Belmont
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Elk Grove
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Calamine
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Benton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Benton is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 966 people
    • Darlington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Darlington is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darlington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,317 people
    • Etna
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Richland County
  • Sauk County
    • Spring Green
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Spring Green is located in Sauk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Green
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,630 people
  • Clayton County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
    • North Buena Vista
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • North Buena Vista is located in Clayton County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Buena Vista
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
    • Guttenberg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Turkey River
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Clayton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Dubuque County (IA)

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

Cemeteries Near Preston ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Preston.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Preston had a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Lancaster Junction
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Lancaster Junction is located in Grant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster Junction
  • Annaton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Stitzer
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Montfort
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Fennimore
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Centreville ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Livingston
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Livingston is located in Grant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livingston
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 632 people
  • Homer
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Homer is located in Grant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
  • Highland
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Arthur
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Arthur is located in Grant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthur
  • Cobb
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Mount Ida
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Rewey
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Werley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Werley is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Werley
    • Lancaster
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Preston ...

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 161 newspapers that have been published in the area around Preston.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Preston, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Preston.

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 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 Preston:

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>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 Preston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Preston) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.