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 Minden (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 Minden. 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 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.
Minden is located in Pottawattamie 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 Pottawattamie County: Cass, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Shelby, Douglas (NE), Sarpy (NE) & Washington (NE).
Below are the counties that are near Minden. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Minden:
- Pottawattamie County (The home county of Minden)
- The following are listed by their distance from Minden, with the one closest to Minden listed first.
- Neola
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Underwood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Harlan Junction ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Harlan Junction is located in Pottawattamie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harlan Junction
- Avoca
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Avoca is located in Pottawattamie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,537 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Avoca <1>
- Hancock
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Hancock is located in Pottawattamie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 196 people
- McClelland
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Pigeon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Pigeon is located in Pottawattamie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pigeon
- Oakland
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Weston
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Weston is located in Pottawattamie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston
- Walnut
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Walnut is located in Pottawattamie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut
- Population from the 2020 Census: 768 people
- Treynor
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Honey Creek
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Honey Creek is located in Pottawattamie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Creek
- Carson
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Audubon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Minden, with the one closest to Minden listed first.
- Kimballton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Fiscus
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Fiscus is located in Audubon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fiscus
- Cass County
- The following are listed by their distance from Minden, with the one closest to Minden listed first.
- Marne
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Griswold
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Lewis
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Atlantic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Sycamore Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Sycamore Village is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Village
- Grove City ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Grove City is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove City
- Harrison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Minden, with the one closest to Minden listed first.
- Yorkshire
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Yorkshire is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkshire
- Persia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Persia is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Persia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
- Logan
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Missouri Valley
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Woodbine
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Magnolia
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Magnolia is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 170 people
- California Junction
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- California Junction is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for California Junction
- Dunlap
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Modale
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Mondamin
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Mills County
- The following are listed by their distance from Minden, with the one closest to Minden listed first.
- Henderson
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Mineola
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Silver City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Silver City is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 246 people
- Folsom
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Folsom is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Folsom
- Hentons ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hentons is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hentons
- Glenwood
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Hastings
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Hastings is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hastings
- Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
- Montgomery County
- Elliott
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Shelby County
- The following are listed by their distance from Minden, with the one closest to Minden listed first.
- Shelby
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Tennant
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Tennant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tennant
- Population from the 2020 Census: 63 people
- Portsmouth
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Corley
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Corley is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corley
- Harlan
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Panama
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Westphalia
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Westphalia is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westphalia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 117 people
- Earling
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Earling is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earling
- Population from the 2020 Census: 403 people
- Kirkman
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Kirkman is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkman
- Population from the 2020 Census: 61 people
- Elk Horn
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Defiance
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Defiance is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Defiance
- Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
- Irwin
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Douglas County (NE)
- The following are listed by their distance from Minden, with the one closest to Minden listed first.
- Home Park
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Home Park is located in Douglas County (NE)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Park
- Briggs
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Briggs is located in Douglas County (NE)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briggs
- Omaha
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Omaha is located in Douglas County (NE)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omaha
- Population from the 2020 Census: 478,393 people
- Omaha has also been known as:
- Omaha City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Omaha <1>
- Irvington
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Irvington is located in Douglas County (NE)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irvington
- Sarpy County (NE)
- The following are listed by their distance from Minden, with the one closest to Minden listed first.
- Avery
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Avery is located in Sarpy County (NE)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avery
- Bellevue
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Gilmore
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Gilmore is located in Sarpy County (NE)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilmore
- Washington County (NE)
- The following are listed by their distance from Minden, with the one closest to Minden listed first.
- Fort Calhoun
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- De Soto ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- De Soto is located in Washington County (NE)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Soto
- De Soto has also been known as:
- DeSoto
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Minden, see our County-by-County Page for Minden.
Cemeteries Near Minden ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Minden.
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 Minden - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Minden covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Minden, with the one closest to Minden listed first.
- Minden Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Champlin Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Graybill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Spears Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Silver Valley Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Neola Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- St. Patricks Catholic Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- St. Patricks Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Patricks Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Patricks Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Neola.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1960110 <2>
- Shelby Twp. Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Schley Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Lytle Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- York Twp. Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Continue List (196 more) ...
- Cox Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Castor Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Fisher Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 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.<3>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Minden had a population of 287 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Minden had a population of 597 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Minden, with the one closest to Minden listed first.
- Neola
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Yorkshire
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Yorkshire is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkshire
- Shelby
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- York Center
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- York Center is located in Pottawattamie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York Center
- Persia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Persia is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Persia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
- Union Burg ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Union Burg is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Burg
- Underwood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Harlan Junction ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Harlan Junction is located in Pottawattamie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harlan Junction
- Hancock
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Hancock is located in Pottawattamie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 196 people
- Avoca
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Avoca is located in Pottawattamie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,537 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Avoca <1>
- Beebeetown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Beebeetown is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beebeetown
- Portsmouth
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Pigeon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Pigeon is located in Pottawattamie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pigeon
- Weston
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Weston is located in Pottawattamie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston
- Quick
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Quick is located in Pottawattamie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quick
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Minden. See our List of 1890's Communities around Minden.
Newspapers Published in Minden ...
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 351 newspapers that have been published in the area around Minden.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Minden, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Minden.
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 helpful 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 Minden:
- Websites specific to Iowa
- Pages specific to Pottawattamie County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Audubon County
- Cass County
- Harrison County
- Mills County
- Montgomery County
- Shelby County
- Douglas County
- Sarpy County
- Washington County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Iowa
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 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. |
| <3> | 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 Minden, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Minden) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |