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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 Spencer (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 Spencer. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Spencer is located in Clay County and is the County Seat.

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 Spencer. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Spencer:

  • Clay County     (The home county of Spencer)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spencer, with the one closest to Spencer listed first.
    • Langdon
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Dickens
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Fostoria
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Greenville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Royal
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Royal have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Everly
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Everly have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
    • Rossie
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rossie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Cornell
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Webb
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Peterson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peterson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Buena Vista County
  • Cherokee County
  • Dickinson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spencer, with the one closest to Spencer listed first.
    • Old Town
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
      • Old Town is located in Dickinson County
    • Milford
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • West Okoboji
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Okoboji have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
    • Terril
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Arnolds Park
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Wahpeton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wahpeton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Spirit Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Orleans
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orleans have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Superior have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Lake Park
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • Emmet County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spencer, with the one closest to Spencer listed first.
    • Wallingford
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Estherville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Estherville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Hoprig
      (27 miles [43.5 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 Spencer to Hoprig
    • Gruver
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gruver have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
  • O'Brien County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spencer, with the one closest to Spencer listed first.
    • Moneta
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moneta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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)
    • Sutherland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sutherland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Calumet
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Calumet have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
    • Primghar
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Primghar have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Sanborn
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Paullina
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paullina have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paullina
      • Paullina is located in O'Brien County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 965 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.<1> 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 <2>
  • Osceola County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spencer, with the one closest to Spencer listed first.
    • May City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Harris
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Melvin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Melvin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
    • Ocheyedan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Cloverdale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Palo Alto County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spencer, with the one closest to Spencer listed first.
    • Ruthven
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Ayrshire
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ayrshire have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Graettinger
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Emmetsburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emmetsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Curlew
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Mallard
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mallard have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallard
      • Mallard is located in Palo Alto County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 266 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mallard <2>
    • Cylinder
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cylinder have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cylinder
      • Cylinder is located in Palo Alto County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
  • Pocahontas County
  • Jackson County (MN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spencer, with the one closest to Spencer listed first.
    • Sioux Valley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Petersburg
      (28 miles [45.1 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 Spencer to Petersburg

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

Cemeteries Near Spencer ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Spencer.

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

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

  • North Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Prairie Creek Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Bethlehem Lutheran Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethlehem Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethlehem Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dickens Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rosehill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rosehill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rosehill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Little Sioux Lutheran Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • First Reformed Church Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Lone Tree Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lincoln Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lincoln Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lincoln Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (113 more) ...
    • Liberty Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Logan Twp. Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Logan Twp. Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Logan Twp. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Milford Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 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.<1> 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Spencer had a population of 1,813 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Spencer had a population of 10,989 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Spencer ...

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 98 newspapers that have been published in the area around Spencer.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Spencer. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Spencer and those printed in the larger area surrounding Spencer.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6> of Spencer.

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 either 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 Spencer:

The official website for Spencer: www.spenceria.org/

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Spencer, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Spencer) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Spencer. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.1444, Longitude: -95.1449    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025