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 Vilas (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 Vilas. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.
Vilas is located in Dane 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 Dane County: Columbia, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Rock & Sauk.
Below are the counties that are near Vilas. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Vilas:
- Dane County (The home county of Vilas)
- The following are listed by their distance from Vilas, with the one closest to Vilas listed first.
- Cottage Grove
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Cottage Grove is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Grove
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,158 people
- Hope
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Hope is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
- Burke
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Burke is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burke
- Door Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Door Creek is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Door Creek
- Pierceville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Pierceville is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierceville
- McFarland
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- McFarland is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McFarland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,291 people
- Monona
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Monona is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monona
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,164 people
- Sun Prairie
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Sun Prairie is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Prairie
- Population from the 2020 Census: 35,119 people
- Darwin ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Darwin is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darwin
- Maple Bluff
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Maple Bluff is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bluff
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,307 people
- Deerfield
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Deerfield is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,540 people
- Madison
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Madison is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madison
- Population from the 2020 Census: 263,094 people
- Columbia County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vilas, with the one closest to Vilas listed first.
- Keyeser
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Keyeser is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keyeser
- North Leeds
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- North Leeds is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Leeds
- Arlington
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Arlington is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 818 people
- Columbus
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Columbus is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,117 people
- Otsego
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Otsego is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otsego
- Lodi
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Lodi is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodi
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,109 people
- Fall River
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Fall River is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall River
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,757 people
- Poynette
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Poynette is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poynette
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,508 people
- Doylestown
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Doylestown is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doylestown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
- Englewood
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Englewood is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englewood
- Rio
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Rio is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,047 people
- Harmony Grove
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Harmony Grove is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Grove
- Dodge County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vilas, with the one closest to Vilas listed first.
- Astico
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Astico is located in Dodge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Astico
- Reeseville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Reeseville is located in Dodge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeseville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 673 people
- Lowell
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Lowell is located in Dodge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 322 people
- Clyman
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Clyman is located in Dodge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyman
- Population from the 2020 Census: 396 people
- Green County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vilas, with the one closest to Vilas listed first.
- Dayton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Dayton is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayton
- Attica
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Attica is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attica
- New Glarus
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- New Glarus is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Glarus
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,136 people
- Albany
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Albany is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albany
- Population from the 2020 Census: 977 people
- Mineral Point
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Mineral Point is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Point
- Monticello
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Monticello is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monticello
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,185 people
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vilas, with the one closest to Vilas listed first.
- Waterloo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Waterloo is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterloo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,322 people
- Lake Ripley
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Lake Ripley is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ripley
- Lake Mills
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Lake Mills is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Mills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,014 people
- Milford
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Milford is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
- Carcajou
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Carcajou is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carcajou
- Lake Koshkonong
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Lake Koshkonong is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Koshkonong
- Grellton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Grellton is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grellton
- Jefferson
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Jefferson is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,037 people
- Fort Atkinson
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Fort Atkinson is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Atkinson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,372 people
- Johnson Creek
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Johnson Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson Creek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,065 people
- Watertown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Watertown is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watertown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 23,370 people
- Cold Spring
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cold Spring is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Spring
- Rock County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vilas, with the one closest to Vilas listed first.
- Cooksville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Cooksville is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooksville
- Union
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Union is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Edgerton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Edgerton is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,595 people
- Fulton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Fulton is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
- Evansville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Evansville is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evansville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,556 people
- Indianford
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Indianford is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indianford
- Magnolia
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Magnolia is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
- Milton Junction
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Milton Junction is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton Junction
- Milton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Milton is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,643 people
- Footville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Footville is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Footville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 822 people
- Lima Center
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Lima Center is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lima Center
- Janesville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Janesville is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Janesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 64,664 people
- Sauk County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vilas, with the one closest to Vilas listed first.
- Merrimac
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Merrimac is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrimac
- Population from the 2020 Census: 441 people
- Sauk City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Sauk City is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sauk City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,498 people
- Prairie du Sac village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- 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
- Moon Valley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Moon Valley is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moon Valley
- Walworth County
- Whitewater
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Whitewater is located in Walworth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitewater
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,993 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Vilas, see our County-by-County Page for Vilas.
Cemeteries Near Vilas ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Vilas.
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 Vilas - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Vilas covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Vilas, with the one closest to Vilas listed first.
- Cottage Grove Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Blooming Grove Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Roselawn Memorial Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- McFarland Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Hoepker Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Sun Prairie Memory Garden
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Pierceville Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Liberty Prairie Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- West Koshkonong Lutheran Church Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Deansville Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Hauge Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Windsor Congregational Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (222 more) ...
- Bristol Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Forest Hill Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Hill Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Forest Hill Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Madison.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #87944 <1>
- Skaalen Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
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 in 1895, Vilas had a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Vilas, with the one closest to Vilas listed first.
- Cottage Grove
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Cottage Grove is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Grove
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,158 people
- Hope
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Hope is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
- Burke
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Burke is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burke
- Door Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Door Creek is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Door Creek
- Nora
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Nora is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nora
- Pierceville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Pierceville is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierceville
- Sun Prairie
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Sun Prairie is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Prairie
- Population from the 2020 Census: 35,119 people
- Darwin ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Darwin is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darwin
- Deerfield
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Deerfield is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,540 people
- Mendota
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Mendota is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendota
- Madison
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Madison is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madison
- Population from the 2020 Census: 263,094 people
- Syene ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Syene is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Syene
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Deansville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Deansville is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deansville
- Lakeview
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Lakeview is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
- Utica
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Utica is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utica
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Vilas. See our List of 1890's Communities around Vilas.
Newspapers Published in Vilas ...
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 219 newspapers that have been published in the area around Vilas.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Vilas, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Vilas.
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 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 Vilas:
- Websites specific to Wisconsin
- Pages specific to Dane County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Columbia County
- Dodge County
- Green County
- Jefferson County
- Rock County
- Sauk County
- Walworth County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Wisconsin
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 Vilas, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Vilas) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |