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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 Rodman (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 Rodman. 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.

Rodman is located in Palo Alto 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 Palo Alto County: Buena Vista, Clay, Dickinson, Emmet, Humboldt, Kossuth & Pocahontas.

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

  • Palo Alto County     (The home county of Rodman)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rodman, with the one closest to Rodman listed first.
    • Cylinder
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Cylinder is located in Palo Alto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cylinder
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
    • West Bend
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Emmetsburg
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Mallard
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Curlew
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Ayrshire
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Graettinger
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Ruthven
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Buena Vista County
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rodman, with the one closest to Rodman listed first.
    • Dickens
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Gillett Grove
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Webb
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Dickinson County
    • Terril
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Emmet County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rodman, with the one closest to Rodman listed first.
    • Hoprig
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Ringsted
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Wallingford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Armstrong
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Gruver
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Gruver is located in Emmet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gruver
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
    • Estherville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Dolliver
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Hancock County
    • Corwith
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Corwith is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corwith
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 245 people
  • Humboldt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rodman, with the one closest to Rodman listed first.
    • Ottosen
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Ottosen is located in Humboldt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottosen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 36 people
    • Bradgate
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Bradgate is located in Humboldt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradgate
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
    • Bode
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Livermore
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Livermore is located in Humboldt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livermore
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 361 people
    • Gilmore City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Arnold
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Rutland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Pioneer
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Pioneer is located in Humboldt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 22 people
    • Dakota City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Humboldt
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hardy
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Kossuth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rodman, with the one closest to Rodman listed first.
    • Whittemore
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Whittemore is located in Kossuth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittemore
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 469 people
    • Fenton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Fenton is located in Kossuth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fenton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 225 people
    • Algona
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Irvington
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Lone Rock
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Burt
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Burt is located in Kossuth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 493 people
    • Seneca
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Sexton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Lu Verne
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Bancroft
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Swea City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Wesley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Wesley is located in Kossuth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
  • Pocahontas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rodman, with the one closest to Rodman listed first.
    • Plover
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Rolfe
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Havelock
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Laurens
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Pocahontas
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Palmer
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Rodman ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rodman.

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 Rodman - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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 in 1895, Rodman had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Rodman had a population of 41 people.

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

  • Cylinder
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Cylinder is located in Palo Alto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cylinder
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
  • Whittemore
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Whittemore is located in Kossuth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittemore
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 469 people
  • West Bend
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Emmetsburg
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Mallard
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Curlew
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Plover
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Rolfe
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Fenton
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Fenton is located in Kossuth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fenton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 225 people
  • Osgood
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Osgood is located in Palo Alto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osgood
  • Algona
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Ayrshire
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Havelock
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Bradgate
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Bradgate is located in Humboldt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradgate
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
    • Bode
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Rodman ...

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 93 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rodman.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rodman, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rodman.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Rodman:

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 Rodman, 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- Rodman) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.