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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 Spring Valley (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 Spring Valley. 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 Spring Valley ...

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 have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Spring Valley: Spring Vly. (or less commonly used: Spring Vally. or Spring Vlly.)

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and 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.

Spring Valley is located in Manitowoc County.

To see how the shape of Wisconsin's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Manitowoc County: Brown, Calumet, Kewaunee & Sheboygan.

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

  • Manitowoc County     (The home county of Spring Valley)
  • Brown County
  • Calumet County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
    • New Holstein
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Holstein have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Holstein
      • New Holstein is located in Calumet County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,105 people
    • Hayton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Potter
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Potter have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potter
      • Potter is located in Calumet County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 236 people
    • Chilton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Brillion
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brillion have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brillion
      • Brillion is located in Calumet County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,079 people
    • Brant
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brant. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brant
      • Brant is located in Calumet County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Brant
      • From Spring Valley to Brant
    • Hilbert
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hilbert have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilbert
      • Hilbert is located in Calumet County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,081 people
    • Brothertown
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Quinney
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Forest Junction
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint John
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Stockbridge
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stockbridge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockbridge
      • Stockbridge is located in Calumet County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 619 people
  • Fond du Lac County
  • Kewaunee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
    • Bolt
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Curran
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Curran. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curran
      • Curran is located in Kewaunee County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Curran
      • From Spring Valley to Curran
  • Ozaukee County
  • Sheboygan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
    • Howards Grove
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Howards Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howards Grove
      • Howards Grove is located in Sheboygan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,279 people
    • Johnsonville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Elkhart Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elkhart Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhart Lake
      • Elkhart Lake is located in Sheboygan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,013 people
    • Kohler
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Sheboygan Falls
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Sheboygan
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Glenbeulah
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glenbeulah have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenbeulah
      • Glenbeulah is located in Sheboygan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 467 people
    • Plymouth
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Ourtown
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Waldo
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Oostburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Cascade
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Spring Valley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Spring Valley.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley 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>

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

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

  • Meeme
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meeme have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meeme
    • Meeme is located in Manitowoc County
  • Osman
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • School Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Cleveland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Ada
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ada have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada
    • Ada is located in Sheboygan County
  • Louis Corners
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Millhome
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Newton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Newton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton
    • Newton is located in Manitowoc County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Newton
    • From Spring Valley to Newton
  • Saint Nazianz
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Rhine
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rhine have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhine
    • Rhine is located in Sheboygan County
  • Franklin
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Franklin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
    • Franklin is located in Sheboygan County
  • Howards Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Howards Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howards Grove
    • Howards Grove is located in Sheboygan County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,279 people
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Spring Valley ...

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 80 newspapers that have been published in the area around Spring Valley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Spring Valley, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Spring Valley.

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 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 Spring Valley:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Spring Valley. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Manitowoc County: www.co.manitowoc.wi.us/

The official website for State of Wisconsin: https://www.wisconsin.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<2>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>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.
<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 Spring Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Spring Valley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Spring Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.9399, Longitude: -87.8392    









 

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In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025