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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 Stevens Point (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 Stevens Point. 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 Stevens Point ...

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 occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Stevens Point: Stevens Pt.

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

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 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.

Stevens Point is located in Portage County and is the County Seat.

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 Portage County: Adams, Marathon, Shawano, Waupaca, Waushara & Wood.

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

  • Portage County     (The home county of Stevens Point)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stevens Point, with the one closest to Stevens Point listed first.
    • Park Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Park Ridge is located in Portage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Ridge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 496 people
    • Whiting
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Whiting is located in Portage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiting
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,704 people
    • Plover
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Plover is located in Portage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plover
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,252 people
    • Custer
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Ellis
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Torun
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Arnott
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Polonia
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Lake Emily ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Junction City
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Junction City is located in Portage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 439 people
    • Amherst Junction
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Amherst Junction is located in Portage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amherst Junction
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 392 people
    • Nelsonville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Garfield
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Adams County
  • Marathon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stevens Point, with the one closest to Stevens Point listed first.
    • Ashley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Mosinee
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Mosinee is located in Marathon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mosinee
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,195 people
    • Galloway
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Moon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Evergreen
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Evergreen is located in Marathon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
    • Kronenwetter
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Elderon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Elderon is located in Marathon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elderon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 213 people
    • Pike Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Rangeline
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Rothschild
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Rothschild is located in Marathon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rothschild
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,256 people
    • Weston
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Weston is located in Marathon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,165 people
    • Ringle
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Hatley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Shawano County
  • Waupaca County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stevens Point, with the one closest to Stevens Point listed first.
    • Cobb Town
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Cobb Town is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobb Town
    • Sheridan
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Iola
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Iola is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iola
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,190 people
    • Scandinavia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Scandinavia is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scandinavia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 349 people
    • King
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Rural
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Ogdensburg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Ogdensburg is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogdensburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 175 people
    • Waupaca
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Waupaca is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waupaca
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,857 people
    • Big Falls
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Big Falls is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Falls
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 69 people
    • Granite City ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Granite City is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite City
  • Waushara County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stevens Point, with the one closest to Stevens Point listed first.
    • Plainfield
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Plainfield is located in Waushara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 832 people
    • Hancock
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Hancock is located in Waushara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 402 people
    • Wild Rose
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Wood County

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

Cemeteries Near Stevens Point ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Stevens Point.

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 Stevens Point - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Stevens Point, with the one closest to Stevens Point 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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Stevens Point had a population of 7,896 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Stevens Point had a population of 25,949 people.

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

  • Stockton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Stockton is located in Portage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockton
  • Custer
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Ellis
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Meehan
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Meehan is located in Portage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meehan
  • Arnott
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Polonia
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Fancher
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Fancher is located in Portage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fancher
  • Keene
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Keene is located in Portage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keene
  • Lake Emily ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Junction City
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Junction City is located in Portage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction City
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 439 people
  • Rudolph
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Rudolph is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rudolph
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 411 people
  • Amherst Junction
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Amherst Junction is located in Portage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amherst Junction
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 392 people
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Stevens Point ...

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 97 newspapers that have been published in the area around Stevens Point.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Stevens Point. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Stevens Point and those printed in the larger area surrounding Stevens Point.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Stevens Point.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Stevens Point:

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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 Stevens Point, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Stevens Point) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.