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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 Lake Park (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 Lake Park. 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.

Name Variations for Lake Park ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Lake Park: Lk. Park

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Lake Park. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Lake Park.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Lake Park is located in Dickinson County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Dickinson County: Clay, Emmet, Osceola & Jackson (MN).

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

  • Dickinson County     (The home county of Lake Park)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Park, with the one closest to Lake Park listed first.
    • Okoboji
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Wahpeton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Wahpeton is located in Dickinson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahpeton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 353 people
    • West Okoboji
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • West Okoboji is located in Dickinson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Okoboji
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
    • Orleans
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Orleans is located in Dickinson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 591 people
    • Spirit Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Arnolds Park
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Milford
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Old Town
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Old Town is located in Dickinson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
    • Superior
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Terril
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Park, with the one closest to Lake Park listed first.
    • Fostoria
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Everly
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Everly is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 541 people
    • Langdon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Spencer
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Dickens
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Royal
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Emmet County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Park, with the one closest to Lake Park listed first.
    • Estherville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Wallingford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Lyon County
  • O'Brien County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Park, with the one closest to Lake Park listed first.
    • Hartley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Moneta
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Moneta is located in O'Brien County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moneta
    • Sanborn
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Primghar
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Osceola County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Park, with the one closest to Lake Park listed first.
    • Harris
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Ocheyedan
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • May City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Allendorf
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Melvin
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Melvin is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 197 people
    • Cloverdale
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Sibley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Ashton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Palo Alto County
  • Cottonwood County (MN)
    • Windom
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Windom is located in Cottonwood County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windom
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,403 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Windom <1>
  • Jackson County (MN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Park, with the one closest to Lake Park listed first.
    • Sioux Valley
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Lakefield
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Okabena
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Petersburg
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Jackson
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Heron Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Heron Lake is located in Jackson County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heron Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 643 people
    • Alpha
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Alpha is located in Jackson County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpha
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 119 people
    • Wilder
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Martin County (MN)
    • Dunnell
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Dunnell is located in Martin County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunnell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 145 people
  • Nobles County (MN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Park, with the one closest to Lake Park listed first.
    • Round Lake
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Worthington
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Brewster
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Org
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Bigelow
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Bigelow is located in Nobles County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bigelow
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 226 people
    • Ransom
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Kinbrae
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Reading
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Reading is located in Nobles County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reading
    • Rushmore
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Rushmore is located in Nobles County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rushmore
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 334 people
    • Dundee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Dundee is located in Nobles County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dundee
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people

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

Cemeteries Near Lake Park ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lake Park.

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 Lake Park - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Silver Lake Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Union Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Norwegian Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Sioux Valley Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Excelsior Twp. Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Round Lake Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Westport Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Lakeland Memory Gardens Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Holy Trinity Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Lake View Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • St. Margaret Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (108 more) ...
    • Ocheyedan Twp. Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Mennonite Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Harrison Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)

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, Lake Park had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Lake Park had a population of 1,132 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Lake Park ...

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 127 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lake Park.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Lake Park. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Lake Park and those printed in the larger area surrounding Lake Park.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Lake Park.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Lake Park:

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>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 Lake Park, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Lake Park) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.