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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 Fostoria (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 Fostoria. 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 northwest 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 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 west 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.

Fostoria is located in Clay County.

To see how the shape of Iowa's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Clay County: Buena Vista, Cherokee, Dickinson, Emmet, O'Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto & Pocahontas.

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

  • Clay County     (The home county of Fostoria)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fostoria, with the one closest to Fostoria listed first.
    • Langdon
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Spencer
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Dickens
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Everly
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Everly have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everly
      • Everly is located in Clay County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 541 people
    • Royal
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Royal have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal
      • Royal is located in Clay County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 400 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Royal <1>
    • Greenville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
      • Greenville is located in Clay County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenville <1>
    • Rossie
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rossie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossie
      • Rossie is located in Clay County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
    • Gillett Grove
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Cornell
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Webb
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Peterson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peterson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peterson
      • Peterson is located in Clay County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 304 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Peterson <1>
  • Buena Vista County
  • Dickinson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fostoria, with the one closest to Fostoria listed first.
    • Old Town
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
      • Old Town is located in Dickinson County
    • Milford
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • West Okoboji
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Okoboji have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Okoboji
      • West Okoboji is located in Dickinson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
    • Arnolds Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Wahpeton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wahpeton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahpeton
      • Wahpeton is located in Dickinson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 353 people
    • Okoboji
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Terril
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Spirit Lake
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Orleans
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orleans have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans
      • Orleans is located in Dickinson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 591 people
    • Superior
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Superior have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Superior
      • Superior is located in Dickinson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 124 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Superior <1>
    • Lake Park
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Emmet County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fostoria, with the one closest to Fostoria listed first.
    • Wallingford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Estherville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Estherville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estherville
      • Estherville is located in Emmet County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,587 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Estherville <1>
    • Gruver
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gruver have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gruver
      • Gruver is located in Emmet County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
    • Hoprig
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hoprig. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoprig
      • Hoprig is located in Emmet County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hoprig
      • From Fostoria to Hoprig
  • O'Brien County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fostoria, with the one closest to Fostoria listed first.
    • Moneta
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moneta have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moneta
      • Moneta is located in O'Brien County
    • Hartley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Primghar
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Primghar have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Primghar
      • Primghar is located in O'Brien County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 858 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Primghar <1>
    • Sutherland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sutherland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sutherland
      • Sutherland is located in O'Brien County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 588 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sutherland <1>
    • Sanborn
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Calumet
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Calumet have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calumet
      • Calumet is located in O'Brien County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
    • Archer
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Archer have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archer
      • Archer is located in O'Brien County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Archer <1>
  • Osceola County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fostoria, with the one closest to Fostoria listed first.
    • May City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Harris
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Ocheyedan
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Melvin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Melvin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
      • Melvin is located in Osceola County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 197 people
    • Allendorf
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Cloverdale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Palo Alto County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fostoria, with the one closest to Fostoria listed first.
    • Ruthven
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Graettinger
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Ayrshire
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ayrshire have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayrshire
      • Ayrshire is located in Palo Alto County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 138 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ayrshire <1>
    • Emmetsburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emmetsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmetsburg
      • Emmetsburg is located in Palo Alto County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,667 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Emmetsburg <1>
    • Curlew
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Jackson County (MN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fostoria, with the one closest to Fostoria listed first.
    • Sioux Valley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Petersburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Petersburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg
      • Petersburg is located in Jackson County (MN)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Petersburg
      • From Fostoria to Petersburg
    • Jackson
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Lakefield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakefield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakefield
      • Lakefield is located in Jackson County (MN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,602 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lakefield <1>
    • Alpha
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpha have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpha
      • Alpha is located in Jackson County (MN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 119 people
  • Martin County (MN)
    • Dunnell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dunnell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunnell
      • Dunnell is located in Martin County (MN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 145 people
  • Nobles County (MN)
    • Round Lake
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Round Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Lake
      • Round Lake is located in Nobles County (MN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Round Lake <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Fostoria ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fostoria.

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

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

  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Little Sioux Lutheran Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Little Sioux Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Little Sioux Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Milford Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Milford Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Milford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • North Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • First Reformed Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Dickens Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dickens Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dickens Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Richland Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Richland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Richland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Excelsior Twp. Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Excelsior Twp. Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Excelsior Twp. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Westport Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Westport Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Westport Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (103 more) ...
    • Lone Tree Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lone Tree Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lone Tree Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Prairie Creek Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prairie Creek Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prairie Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Fairview Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

While we didn't find Fostoria in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Fostoria.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Fostoria ...

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 99 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fostoria.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fostoria, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fostoria.

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 Fostoria:

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

The official website for Clay County: www.co.clay.ia.us/

The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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.
<4>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.
<5>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 Fostoria, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Fostoria) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fostoria. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.2419, Longitude: -95.1541    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025