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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 Whitefish Bay (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 Whitefish Bay. 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.

Whitefish Bay is located in Milwaukee 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 Milwaukee County: Ozaukee, Racine, Washington & Waukesha.

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

  • Milwaukee County     (The home county of Whitefish Bay)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whitefish Bay, with the one closest to Whitefish Bay listed first.
    • Glendale
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glendale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
      • Glendale is located in Milwaukee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,775 people
    • Shorewood
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shorewood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorewood
      • Shorewood is located in Milwaukee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,117 people
    • Fox Point
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fox Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Point
      • Fox Point is located in Milwaukee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,628 people
    • Bayside
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bayside have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayside
      • Bayside is located in Milwaukee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,326 people
    • River Hills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for River Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Hills
      • River Hills is located in Milwaukee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,575 people
    • Brown Deer
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brown Deer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Deer
      • Brown Deer is located in Milwaukee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,191 people
    • Milwaukee
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Wauwatosa
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wauwatosa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wauwatosa
      • Wauwatosa is located in Milwaukee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 48,084 people
    • West Milwaukee
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Milwaukee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Milwaukee
      • West Milwaukee is located in Milwaukee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,090 people
    • West Granville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • West Allis
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Saint Francis
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Greenfield
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Ozaukee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whitefish Bay, with the one closest to Whitefish Bay listed first.
    • Mequon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mequon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mequon
      • Mequon is located in Ozaukee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,765 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Mequon
      • From Whitefish Bay to Mequon
    • Thiensville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Freistadt
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedarburg
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Grafton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Ulao
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ulao. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ulao
      • Ulao is located in Ozaukee County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ulao
      • From Whitefish Bay to Ulao
    • Horns Corners
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Port Washington
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Saukville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saukville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saukville
      • Saukville is located in Ozaukee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,437 people
    • Fredonia
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fredonia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredonia
      • Fredonia is located in Ozaukee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,251 people
    • Holy Cross
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Waubeka
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Belgium
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Racine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whitefish Bay, with the one closest to Whitefish Bay listed first.
    • Kneeland
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Caledonia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Raymond
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Wind Point
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wind Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wind Point
      • Wind Point is located in Racine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,685 people
    • Wind Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Franksville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Franksville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franksville
      • Franksville is located in Racine County
    • North Bay
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Bay have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bay
      • North Bay is located in Racine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 233 people
    • Yorkville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yorkville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkville
      • Yorkville is located in Racine County
    • Mount Pleasant
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Racine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,048 people
    • Racine
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Caldwell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Sturtevant
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Waterford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waterford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterford
      • Waterford is located in Racine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,618 people
  • Sheboygan County
  • Walworth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whitefish Bay, with the one closest to Whitefish Bay listed first.
    • Lake Beulah
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Potter Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Potter Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potter Lake
      • Potter Lake is located in Walworth County
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whitefish Bay, with the one closest to Whitefish Bay listed first.
    • Germantown
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Germantown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germantown
      • Germantown is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,057 people
    • Richfield
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Richfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richfield
      • Richfield is located in Washington County
      • Estimated population in 2015: 11,530 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Richfield
      • From Whitefish Bay to Richfield
    • Jackson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Five
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Rugby Junction
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rugby Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rugby Junction
      • Rugby Junction is located in Washington County
    • Cedar Creek
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Newburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Myra
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Slinger
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Slinger have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slinger
      • Slinger is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,704 people
    • Cedar Lake
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Thompson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Thompson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson
      • Thompson is located in Washington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Thompson
      • From Whitefish Bay to Thompson
    • West Bend
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Barton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Waukesha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whitefish Bay, with the one closest to Whitefish Bay listed first.
    • Butler
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Butler have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler
      • Butler is located in Waukesha County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,795 people
    • Elm Grove
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Brookfield
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brookfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield
      • Brookfield is located in Waukesha County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 39,164 people
    • Menomonee Falls
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Menomonee Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menomonee Falls
      • Menomonee Falls is located in Waukesha County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 38,243 people
    • Lannon
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lannon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lannon
      • Lannon is located in Waukesha County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,284 people
    • New Berlin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Tess Corners
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Sussex
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Prospect
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Prospect. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prospect
      • Prospect is located in Waukesha County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Prospect
      • From Whitefish Bay to Prospect
    • Pewaukee
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pewaukee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pewaukee
      • Pewaukee is located in Waukesha County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,703 people
    • Pewaukee
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pewaukee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pewaukee
      • Pewaukee is located in Waukesha County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,099 people
    • Waukesha
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Durham
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Whitefish Bay ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Whitefish Bay.

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 Whitefish Bay covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Whitefish Bay had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Whitefish Bay had a population of 13,770 people.

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

  • Milwaukee
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Brown Deer
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brown Deer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Deer
    • Brown Deer is located in Milwaukee County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,191 people
  • West Granville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Granville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Granville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granville
    • Granville is located in Milwaukee County
  • Elm Grove
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Thiensville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Mequon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mequon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mequon
    • Mequon is located in Ozaukee County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,765 people
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Mequon
    • From Whitefish Bay to Mequon
  • Fussville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fussville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fussville
    • Fussville is located in Waukesha County
  • Saint Francis
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Brookfield
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brookfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield
    • Brookfield is located in Waukesha County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 39,164 people
  • Freistadt
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Menomonee Falls
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Menomonee Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menomonee Falls
    • Menomonee Falls is located in Waukesha County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 38,243 people
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Marcy
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marcy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcy
      • Marcy is located in Waukesha County
    • Calhoun
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Calhoun have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calhoun
      • Calhoun is located in Waukesha County
    • Cedarburg
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Whitefish Bay ...

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 54 newspapers that have been published in the area around Whitefish Bay.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Whitefish Bay. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Whitefish Bay and those printed in the larger area surrounding Whitefish Bay.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<5> of Whitefish Bay.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Whitefish Bay:

The official website for Whitefish Bay: www.village.whitefish-bay.wi.us/

The official website for Milwaukee County: www.co.milwaukee.wi.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>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.
<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 Whitefish Bay, 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' (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- Whitefish Bay) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Whitefish Bay. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.1132, Longitude: -87.9000    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025