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 Peterson (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 Peterson. 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.
Peterson is located in Clay 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 Clay County: Buena Vista, Cherokee, Dickinson, Emmet, O'Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto & Pocahontas.
Below are the counties that are near Peterson. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Peterson:
- Clay County (The home county of Peterson)
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Cornell
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Cornell is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornell
- Royal
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Rossie
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Rossie is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossie
- Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
- Greenville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Webb
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Webb is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webb
- Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
- Everly
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Everly is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everly
- Population from the 2020 Census: 541 people
- Gillett Grove
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Gillett Grove is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gillett Grove
- Population from the 2020 Census: 47 people
- Spencer
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Dickens
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Dickens is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickens
- Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
- Fostoria
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Fostoria is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fostoria
- Population from the 2020 Census: 219 people
- Langdon
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Langdon is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langdon
- Buena Vista County
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Linn Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Elkton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Elkton is located in Buena Vista County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkton
- Sioux Rapids
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Rembrandt
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Truesdale
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Alta
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Alta is located in Buena Vista County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,916 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alta <1>
- Marathon
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Marathon is located in Buena Vista County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marathon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
- Storm Lake
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Casino Beach
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Casino Beach is located in Buena Vista County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casino Beach
- Albert City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Lakeside
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Lakeside is located in Buena Vista County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
- Population from the 2020 Census: 690 people
- Juniata
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Juniata is located in Buena Vista County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juniata
- Cherokee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Larrabee
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Larrabee is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larrabee
- Population from the 2020 Census: 130 people
- Aurelia
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Cherokee
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Meriden
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Meriden is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meriden
- Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
- Cleghorn
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Cleghorn is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleghorn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 214 people
- Mary Hill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Mary Hill is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mary Hill
- Marcus
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Quimby
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Quimby is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quimby
- Population from the 2020 Census: 291 people
- Fielding
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Fielding is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fielding
- Washta
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Washta is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 222 people
- Dickinson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Milford
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Old Town
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Old Town is located in Dickinson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
- Ida County
- Galva
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- O'Brien County
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Sutherland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Calumet
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Calumet is located in O'Brien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calumet
- Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
- Moneta
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Moneta is located in O'Brien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moneta
- Paullina
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Paullina is located in O'Brien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paullina
- Population from the 2020 Census: 965 people
- Primghar
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Hartley
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Hartley is located in O'Brien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,556 people
- Germantown
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Germantown is located in O'Brien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germantown
- Archer
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Sanborn
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Osceola County
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- May City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- May City is located in Osceola County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May City
- Melvin
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Melvin is located in Osceola County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 197 people
- Palo Alto County
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Ayrshire
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Ruthven
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Curlew
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Curlew is located in Palo Alto County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curlew
- Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
- Pocahontas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Laurens
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Varina
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Varina is located in Pocahontas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Varina
- Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
- Sac County
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Schaller
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Nemaha
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Nemaha is located in Sac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nemaha
- Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
- Sioux County
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Granville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Granville is located in Sioux County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
- Hospers
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Peterson, see our County-by-County Page for Peterson.
Cemeteries Near Peterson ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Peterson.
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 Peterson - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Peterson covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Oakland Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- St. John's Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Daily Burial Ground
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Fred Fieldman Grave
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- First Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Douglas Twp. Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Barnes Twp. Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnes Twp. Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Barnes Twp. Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Linn Grove.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #94208 <2>
- Zion Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Plainview Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Willow Creek Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Waterman Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (119 more) ...
- Spring Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Little Sioux Valley Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Lincoln Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
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 Peterson had a population of 371 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Peterson had a population of 304 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Linn Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Elkton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Elkton is located in Buena Vista County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkton
- Sutherland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Sioux Rapids
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Calumet
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Calumet is located in O'Brien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calumet
- Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
- Larrabee
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Larrabee is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larrabee
- Population from the 2020 Census: 130 people
- Greenville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Gaza
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Gaza is located in O'Brien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaza
- Cherokee
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Aurelia
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Everly
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Everly is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everly
- Population from the 2020 Census: 541 people
- Meriden
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Meriden is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meriden
- Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Alta
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Alta is located in Buena Vista County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,916 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alta <1>
- Paullina
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Paullina is located in O'Brien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paullina
- Population from the 2020 Census: 965 people
- Marathon
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Marathon is located in Buena Vista County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marathon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Peterson. See our List of 1890's Communities around Peterson.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Peterson ...
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 107 newspapers that have been published in the area around Peterson.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Peterson. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Peterson and those printed in the larger area surrounding Peterson.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Peterson.
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 professional and volunteer 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 Peterson:
- Websites specific to Iowa
- Pages specific to Clay County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Buena Vista County
- Cherokee County
- Dickinson County
- Ida County
- O'Brien County
- Osceola County
- Palo Alto County
- Pocahontas County
- Sac County
- Sioux 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 Peterson, 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- Peterson) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |