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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 Ada (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 Ada. 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 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.

Ada is located in Norman County and is the County Seat.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Norman County: Becker, Clay, Mahnomen, Polk, Cass (ND) & Traill (ND).

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

  • Norman County     (The home county of Ada)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ada, with the one closest to Ada listed first.
    • Borup
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Borup is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borup
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
    • Twin Valley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Twin Valley is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 750 people
    • Gary
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Halstad
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Hendrum
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Hendrum is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hendrum
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 282 people
    • Flaming
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Flaming is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flaming
    • Perley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Perley is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 83 people
    • Shelly
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Shelly is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
    • Faith
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Faith is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faith
    • Flom
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Rindal
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Rindal is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rindal
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ada, with the one closest to Ada listed first.
    • Felton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Ulen
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Georgetown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Georgetown is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
    • Kragnes
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Kragnes is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kragnes
    • Hitterdal
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Hitterdal is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hitterdal
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 213 people
    • Oakport
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Oakport is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakport
    • Glyndon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Dilworth
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Hawley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Muskoda
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Muskoda is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muskoda
  • Mahnomen County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ada, with the one closest to Ada listed first.
    • Mahnomen
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Bejou
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Waubun
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ada, with the one closest to Ada listed first.
    • Beltrami
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Beltrami is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
    • Fertile
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Nielsville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Nielsville is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nielsville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
    • Melvin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Melvin is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
    • Climax
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Climax is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
    • Winger
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Dugdale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Dugdale is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale
  • Cass County (ND)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ada, with the one closest to Ada listed first.
    • Gardner
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Argusville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Argusville is located in Cass County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argusville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 467 people
    • Harwood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • North River
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • North River is located in Cass County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North River
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
    • Reile's Acres
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Reile's Acres is located in Cass County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reile's Acres
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 748 people
  • Traill County (ND)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ada, with the one closest to Ada listed first.
    • Caledonia
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Grandin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Kelso
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Kelso is located in Traill County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelso
    • Alton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Alton is located in Traill County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton
    • Hillsboro
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Cummings
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Ada ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ada.

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

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

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

  • Ada Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Petri Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Skandinavia Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • St. John's Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • German Methodist Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • West Wild Rice Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Norman County Poor Farm Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Anthony Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • East Marsh River Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Winchester Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • West Petri - East Marsh River Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (124 more) ...

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 Ada had a population of 622 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Ada had a population of 1,556 people.

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

  • Lockhart
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Lockhart is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockhart
  • Heiberg
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Heiberg is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heiberg
  • Twin Valley
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Twin Valley is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Valley
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 750 people
  • Gary
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Syre
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Syre is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Syre
  • Halstad
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Hendrum
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Hendrum is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hendrum
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 282 people
  • Perley
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Perley is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perley
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 83 people
  • Felton
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Beltrami
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Beltrami is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
  • Fossum
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Fossum is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fossum
  • Ulen
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Faith
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Faith is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faith
    • Fertile
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Georgetown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Georgetown is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Ada ...

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 28 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ada.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 Ada:

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 Ada, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Ada) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.