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 Waunakee (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 Waunakee. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.
Waunakee is located in Dane 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 Dane County: Columbia, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Rock & Sauk.
Below are the counties that are near Waunakee. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Waunakee:
- Dane County (The home county of Waunakee)
- The following are listed by their distance from Waunakee, with the one closest to Waunakee listed first.
- Mendota
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Ashton Corners
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashton Corners
- Ashton Corners is located in Dane County
- Windsor
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor
- Windsor is located in Dane County
- Dane
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Ashton
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashton
- Ashton is located in Dane County
- DeForest
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeForest
- DeForest is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,915 people
- Darwin ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Maple Bluff
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bluff
- Maple Bluff is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,307 people
- Middleton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Martinsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsville
- Martinsville is located in Dane County
- Morrisonville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrisonville
- Morrisonville is located in Dane County
- Shorewood Hills
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shorewood Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorewood Hills
- Shorewood Hills is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,999 people
- Columbia County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waunakee, with the one closest to Waunakee listed first.
- Lodi
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodi
- Lodi is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,109 people
- Arlington
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
- Arlington is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 818 people
- North Leeds
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for North Leeds. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Leeds
- North Leeds is located in Columbia County
- Keyeser
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast) - Harmony Grove
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Grove
- Harmony Grove is located in Columbia County
- Okee
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Okee
- Okee is located in Columbia County
- Poynette
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poynette
- Poynette is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,508 people
- Lake Wisconsin
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Wisconsin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Wisconsin
- Lake Wisconsin is located in Columbia County
- Durwards Glen ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durwards Glen
- Durwards Glen is located in Columbia County
- Otsego
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otsego
- Otsego is located in Columbia County
- Rio
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast) - Doylestown
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doylestown
- Doylestown is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
- Dodge County
- Astico
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Astico
- Astico is located in Dodge County
- Astico
- Green County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waunakee, with the one closest to Waunakee listed first.
- Dayton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayton
- Dayton is located in Green County
- New Glarus
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Glarus
- New Glarus is located in Green County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,136 people
- Attica
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attica
- Attica is located in Green County
- Iowa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waunakee, with the one closest to Waunakee listed first.
- Cassell
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west) - Arena
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arena
- Arena is located in Iowa County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 831 people
- Barneveld
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest) - Hyde
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hyde
- Hyde is located in Iowa County
- Helena
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
- Helena is located in Iowa County
- Ridgeway
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waunakee, with the one closest to Waunakee listed first.
- Waterloo
(23 miles [37 km] to the east) - Lake Ripley
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ripley
- Lake Ripley is located in Jefferson County
- Lake Mills
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Mills
- Lake Mills is located in Jefferson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,014 people
- Milford
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
- Milford is located in Jefferson County
- Rock County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waunakee, with the one closest to Waunakee listed first.
- Union
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south) - Cooksville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooksville
- Cooksville is located in Rock County
- Evansville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evansville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evansville
- Evansville is located in Rock County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,556 people
- Fulton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
- Fulton is located in Rock County
- Sauk County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waunakee, with the one closest to Waunakee listed first.
- Merrimac
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest) - Prairie du Sac village
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie du Sac village
- Prairie du Sac village is located in Sauk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,426 people
- Sauk City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest) - Moon Valley
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moon Valley
- Moon Valley is located in Sauk County
- Witwen
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Witwen
- Witwen is located in Sauk County
- Baraboo
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baraboo
- Baraboo is located in Sauk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,121 people
- Denzer
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denzer
- Denzer is located in Sauk County
- West Baraboo
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Baraboo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Baraboo
- West Baraboo is located in Sauk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,416 people
- Leland
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west) - North Freedom
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Freedom have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Freedom
- North Freedom is located in Sauk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 690 people
- Rock Springs
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Springs
- Rock Springs is located in Sauk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 361 people
- Plain
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Waunakee, see our County-by-County Page for Waunakee.
Cemeteries Near Waunakee ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Waunakee.
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 Waunakee covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Waunakee, with the one closest to Waunakee listed first.
- St. John's Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John's Cemetery
- The St. John's Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. John the Baptist Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1973354 <3>
- Kingsley Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kingsley Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kingsley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Vienna Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Vienna Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Vienna Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Matsen Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Matsen Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Matsen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Kohlman Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kohlman Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kohlman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Onehundred Mile Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Onehundred Mile Grove Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Onehundred Mile Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- St. Bernards Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Bernards Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Bernards Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Windsor Congregational Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Windsor Congregational Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1993592 <3>
- St. Johns Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Evergreen Hill Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Hill Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- County Line Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the County Line Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the County Line Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Roxbury Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Roxbury Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Roxbury Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Continue List (209 more) ...
- St. Johns Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Forest Hill Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the 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 <3>
- Resurrection Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Resurrection Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Resurrection Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Madison.
- The Resurrection Cemetery has also been known as:
- Calvary Cemetery
- Holy Cross Cemetery
- Resurrection Catholic Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #343777 <3>
- St. Johns Cemetery
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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Waunakee had a population of 312 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Waunakee had a population of 14,188 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Waunakee, with the one closest to Waunakee listed first.
- Mendota
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Norway Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norway Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norway Grove
- Norway Grove is located in Dane County
- Ashton
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashton
- Ashton is located in Dane County
- Pheasant Branch
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pheasant Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Branch
- Pheasant Branch is located in Dane County
- Dane
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Windsor
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor
- Windsor is located in Dane County
- Springfield Corners
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springfield Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springfield Corners
- Springfield Corners is located in Dane County
- Middleton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Darwin ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - DeForest
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeForest
- DeForest is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,915 people
- Morrisonville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrisonville
- Morrisonville is located in Dane County
- Madison
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madison
- Madison is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 263,094 people
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Lodi
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodi
- Lodi is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,109 people
- Burke
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Cross Plains
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cross Plains have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Plains
- Cross Plains is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,280 people
- Lodi
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Waunakee. See our List of 1890's Communities around Waunakee.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Waunakee ...
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 284 newspapers that have been published in the area around Waunakee.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Waunakee. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Waunakee and those printed in the larger area surrounding Waunakee.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<5> of Waunakee.
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 Waunakee:
- Websites specific to Wisconsin
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Website for the //www.wisconsinhistory.org/
- Pages specific to Dane County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Columbia County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Dodge County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Green County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Iowa County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Jefferson County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Rock County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Sauk County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Columbia County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Wisconsin
- Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Cyndi's List
- Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Cemeteries of Dane County
- FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Find-A-Grave: Home Page
- Interment.net
- Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Cemeteries of Dane County
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Waunakee: www.vil.waunakee.wi.us/
The official website for Dane County: www.co.dane.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 Waunakee, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Waunakee) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Waunakee. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.1867, Longitude: -89.4521 In this case, the coordinates for Waunakee have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |