RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Wisconsin >> Jackson County >> York >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 York (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 York. 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 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.

York is located in Jackson 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 Jackson County: Clark, Eau Claire, Juneau, La Crosse, Monroe, Trempealeau & Wood.

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

  • Jackson County     (The home county of York)
    • The following are listed by their distance from York, with the one closest to York listed first.
    • Levis
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Hixton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Sechlerville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Taylor
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Taylor is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 473 people
    • Requa
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Alma Center
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Alma Center is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma Center
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 491 people
    • Merrillan
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Merrillan is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrillan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 522 people
    • Black River Falls
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Hatfield
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Melrose
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • North Bend
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Millston
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Buffalo County
  • Clark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from York, with the one closest to York listed first.
    • Humbird
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Globe
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Neillsville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Neillsville is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neillsville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,375 people
    • Willard
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Crawford County
    • Lynxville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Lynxville is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynxville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 125 people
  • Eau Claire County
    • The following are listed by their distance from York, with the one closest to York listed first.
    • Hay Creek
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Fairchild
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Augusta
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Augusta is located in Eau Claire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Augusta
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,517 people
    • Allen
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Fall Creek
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Fall Creek is located in Eau Claire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,291 people
    • Altoona
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Altoona is located in Eau Claire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altoona
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,062 people
    • Seymour
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Seymour is located in Eau Claire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seymour
    • Eau Claire
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Lufkin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Shawtown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • La Crosse County
  • Trempealeau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from York, with the one closest to York listed first.
    • Pigeon Falls
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Coral City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Coral City is located in Trempealeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coral City
    • Osseo
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Whitehall
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Whitehall is located in Trempealeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitehall
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,565 people
    • Blair
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Blair is located in Trempealeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blair
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,330 people
    • Strum
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Independence
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Independence is located in Trempealeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,291 people
    • New City ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • New City is located in Trempealeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New City
    • Russell
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Eleva
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Ettrick
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Ettrick is located in Trempealeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ettrick
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 511 people
    • Frenchville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Arcadia
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near York ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of York.

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 York - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from York, with the one closest to York 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 in 1895, York had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Northfield
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Northfield is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northfield
  • Pigeon Falls
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Hale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Hale is located in Trempealeau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hale
  • Levis
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Sechlerville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Hixton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • North Branch
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • North Branch is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Branch
  • Osseo
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Whitehall
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Whitehall is located in Trempealeau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitehall
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,565 people
  • Price
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Price is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Price
  • Blair
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Blair is located in Trempealeau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blair
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,330 people
  • Alma Center
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Alma Center is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma Center
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 491 people
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Elk Creek
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Elk Creek is located in Trempealeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Creek
    • Humbird
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Fairchild
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in York ...

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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around York.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of York, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for York.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 York:

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 York, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- York) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.