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 Athens (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 Athens. 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 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.

Athens is located in Marathon 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 Marathon County: Clark, Langlade, Lincoln, Portage, Shawano, Taylor, Waupaca & Wood.

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

• Marathon County     (The home county of Athens)
  • The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
  • Poniatowski
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poniatowski
    • Poniatowski is located in Marathon County
  • Milan
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milan
    • Milan is located in Marathon County
  • Wien
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wien
    • Wien is located in Marathon County
  • Edgar
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgar
    • Edgar is located in Marathon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,434 people
  • Rib Falls
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rib Falls
    • Rib Falls is located in Marathon County
  • Hamburg
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamburg
    • Hamburg is located in Marathon County
  • Fenwood
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fenwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fenwood
    • Fenwood is located in Marathon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
  • Emmerich
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmerich
    • Emmerich is located in Marathon County
  • Marathon City
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marathon City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marathon City
    • Marathon City is located in Marathon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,516 people
  • Naugart
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naugart
    • Naugart is located in Marathon County
  • Stratford
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stratford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratford
    • Stratford is located in Marathon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,571 people
  • Taegesville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taegesville
    • Taegesville is located in Marathon County
• Clark County
  • The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
  • Dorchester
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dorchester have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorchester
    • Dorchester is located in Clark County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 864 people
  • Abbotsford
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Abbotsford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbotsford
    • Abbotsford is located in Clark County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,225 people
  • Colby
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colby
    • Colby is located in Clark County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,941 people
  • Curtiss
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtiss
    • Curtiss is located in Clark County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 211 people
  • Riplinger
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riplinger
    • Riplinger is located in Clark County
  • Atwood
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atwood
    • Atwood is located in Clark County
  • Owen
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owen
    • Owen is located in Clark County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 925 people
  • Withee
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Withee
    • Withee is located in Clark County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 472 people
  • Spokeville
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spokeville
    • Spokeville is located in Clark County
  • Loyal
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loyal have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyal
    • Loyal is located in Clark County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,229 people
• Lincoln County
  • The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
  • Merrill
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Merrill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrill
    • Merrill is located in Lincoln County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,990 people
  • Dutch Corners ‑ Historic
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutch Corners
    • Dutch Corners is located in Lincoln County
• Taylor County
  • The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
  • Stetsonville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stetsonville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stetsonville
    • Stetsonville is located in Taylor County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 518 people
  • Medford
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medford
    • Medford is located in Taylor County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,267 people
  • Rib Lake
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rib Lake
    • Rib Lake is located in Taylor County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 861 people
• Wood County
  • The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
  • Marshfield
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshfield
    • Marshfield is located in Wood County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,414 people
  • Hewitt
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hewitt
    • Hewitt is located in Wood County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 777 people
  • Auburndale
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Auburndale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburndale
    • Auburndale is located in Wood County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 658 people
  • Bakerville
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakerville
    • Bakerville is located in Wood County
  • Blenker
    (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blenker
    • Blenker is located in Wood County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Athens ...

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 78 newspapers that have been published in the area around Athens.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

• A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Athens. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Athens and those printed in the larger area surrounding Athens.
• An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2> of Athens.

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 Athens:

• 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 Marathon County
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Genealogy information for nearby counties
  • Clark County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Lincoln County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Taylor County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Wood County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Cemetery Information and Directories for Wisconsin
  • Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of Wisconsin
  • Cyndi's List
  • Cemeteries of Wisconsin
  • Cemeteries of Marathon County
  • FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of Wisconsin
  • Find-A-Grave: Home Page
  • Interment.net
  • Cemeteries of Wisconsin

Cemeteries Near Athens ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Athens.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.

• Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
  (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • The Trinity Lutheran Cemetery has also been known as:
  • New Lutheran Cemetery
  • Old Lutheran Cemetery
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2417924 <3>
• Holy Trinity Cemetery
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Trinity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Trinity Cemetery
• Bethlehem Cemetery
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethlehem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethlehem Cemetery
• St. Thomas Catholic Cemetery
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Thomas Catholic Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<2> to the south of Milan.
  • The St. Thomas Catholic Cemetery has also been known as:
  • St. Thomas Cemetery
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Thomas Catholic Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #89215 <3>
• St. John The Baptist Catholic Cemetery
  (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. John The Baptist Catholic Cemetery is located 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the west of Abbotsford.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John The Baptist Catholic Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2572453 <3>
• Pilgrim Rest Cemetery
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pilgrim Rest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pilgrim Rest Cemetery
• Tessmer Pioneer Cemetery
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tessmer Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tessmer Pioneer Cemetery
• Lueck Cemetery
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lueck Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lueck Cemetery
• St. Pauls Cemetery
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Pauls Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Pauls Cemetery
• St. Andrews Lutheran Cemetery
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Andrews Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Andrews Lutheran Cemetery
• Baesemann Cemetery
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Baesemann Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Baesemann Cemetery
• Emanuel Cemetery
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Emanuel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Emanuel Cemetery
• Continue List   (99 more) ...
  • Fromm Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fromm Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fromm Cemetery
  • Hamburg Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hamburg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hamburg Cemetery
  • Holton Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holton 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 in 1895, Athens had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Athens had a population of 1,079 people.

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

• Corinth
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Corinth have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinth
  • Corinth is located in Marathon County
• Poniatowski
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poniatowski
  • Poniatowski is located in Marathon County
• Wuertsburg
  (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wuertsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wuertsburg
  • Wuertsburg is located in Marathon County
• Milan
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milan
  • Milan is located in Marathon County
• Rib Falls
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rib Falls
  • Rib Falls is located in Marathon County
• Hamburg
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamburg
  • Hamburg is located in Marathon County
• Cherokee
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherokee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee
  • Cherokee is located in Marathon County
• Stetsonville
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stetsonville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stetsonville
  • Stetsonville is located in Taylor County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 518 people
• Emmerich
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmerich
  • Emmerich is located in Marathon County
• Dorchester
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dorchester have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorchester
  • Dorchester is located in Clark County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 864 people
• Abbotsford
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Abbotsford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbotsford
  • Abbotsford is located in Clark County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,225 people
• Stettin ‑ Historic
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stettin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stettin
  • Stettin is located in Marathon County
• Continue List   (18 more) ...
  • Little Black
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Black have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Black
    • Little Black is located in Taylor County
  • Interwald
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Interwald have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Interwald
    • Interwald is located in Taylor County
  • Colby
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colby
    • Colby is located in Clark County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,941 people

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

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Athens. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Marathon County: www.co.marathon.wi.us/

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