RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Minnesota >> Stearns County >> Albany >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Minnesota

The Commemorative Quarter for Minnesota





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 Albany (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 Albany. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Albany is located in Stearns County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Stearns County: Benton, Douglas, Kandiyohi, Meeker, Morrison, Pope, Sherburne, Todd & Wright.

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

  • Stearns County     (The home county of Albany)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Albany, with the one closest to Albany listed first.
    • Saint Anthony
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Anthony have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Anthony
      • Saint Anthony is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 91 people
    • Freeport
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeport have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
      • Freeport is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 671 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeport <2>
    • Avon
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Holdingford
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holdingford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holdingford
      • Holdingford is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 725 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holdingford <2>
    • New Munich
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Munich have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Munich
      • New Munich is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 330 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Munich <2>
    • Saint Wendel
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Saint Rosa
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Rosa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Rosa
      • Saint Rosa is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
    • Saint Martin
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Martin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Martin
      • Saint Martin is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Martin <2>
    • Collegeville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Melrose
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Opole
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Opole. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opole
      • Opole is located in Stearns County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Opole
      • From Albany to Opole
    • Richmond
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Benton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Albany, with the one closest to Albany listed first.
    • Evergreen Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evergreen Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Village
      • Evergreen Village is located in Benton County
    • Rice
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rice have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice
      • Rice is located in Benton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,401 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rice <2>
    • Watab
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Sauk Rapids
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Gilman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gilman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilman
      • Gilman is located in Benton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilman <2>
  • Kandiyohi County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Albany, with the one closest to Albany listed first.
    • Regal
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Regal have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regal
      • Regal is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35 people
    • Hawick
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • New London
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Meeker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Albany, with the one closest to Albany listed first.
    • Eden Valley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eden Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden Valley
      • Eden Valley is located in Meeker County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,038 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eden Valley <2>
    • Watkins
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Watkins have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watkins
      • Watkins is located in Meeker County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 958 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Watkins <2>
    • Manannah
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Manannah. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manannah
      • Manannah is located in Meeker County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Manannah
      • From Albany to Manannah
    • Forest City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Morrison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Albany, with the one closest to Albany listed first.
    • Upsala
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Elmdale
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elmdale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmdale
      • Elmdale is located in Morrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Elmdale
      • From Albany to Elmdale
    • Bowlus
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • North Prairie
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Swanville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Royalton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Sobieski
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sobieski have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sobieski
      • Sobieski is located in Morrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 194 people
    • Flensburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Little Falls
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Buckman
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buckman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckman
      • Buckman is located in Morrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
    • Belle Prairie
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Pope County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Albany, with the one closest to Albany listed first.
    • Grove Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Grove Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Lake
      • Grove Lake is located in Pope County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Grove Lake
      • From Albany to Grove Lake
    • Westport
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Sherburne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Albany, with the one closest to Albany listed first.
    • Cable
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cable. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cable
      • Cable is located in Sherburne County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cable
      • From Albany to Cable
    • Clear Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clear Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
      • Clear Lake is located in Sherburne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 729 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clear Lake <2>
  • Todd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Albany, with the one closest to Albany listed first.
    • Grey Eagle
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Burtrum
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Pillsbury
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pillsbury. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pillsbury
      • Pillsbury is located in Todd County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pillsbury
      • From Albany to Pillsbury
    • Long Prairie
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Prairie
      • Long Prairie is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,297 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Long Prairie <2>
    • West Union
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Union have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Union
      • West Union is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
  • Wright County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Albany, with the one closest to Albany listed first.
    • Clearwater
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clearwater have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearwater
      • Clearwater is located in Wright County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,841 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clearwater <2>
    • South Haven
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Haven have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Haven
      • South Haven is located in Wright County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 189 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for South Haven <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Albany ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Albany.

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

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

  • Seven Dolors Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Seven Dolors Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Seven Dolors Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ebenezer Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ebenezer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ebenezer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ebenezer Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ebenezer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ebenezer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Immanuel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Immanuel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Immanuel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Immanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Immanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Immanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Immaculate Conception Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Immaculate Conception Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Immaculate Conception Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sacred Heart Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sacred Heart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sacred Heart Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sacred Heart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Catherine's Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Catherine's Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Catherine's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Francis Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Francis Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Francis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Hegwigs Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Hegwigs Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Hegwigs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (172 more) ...
    • Highland Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highland Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Highland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Marys Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Millwood Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Millwood Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Millwood 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Albany had a population of 640 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Albany had a population of 2,792 people.

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

  • Saint Anna
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Anna have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Anna
    • Saint Anna is located in Stearns County
  • Freeport
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeport have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
    • Freeport is located in Stearns County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 671 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeport <2>
  • Avon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Farming
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farming have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farming
    • Farming is located in Stearns County
  • Holdingford
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holdingford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holdingford
    • Holdingford is located in Stearns County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 725 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holdingford <2>
  • New Munich
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Munich have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Munich
    • New Munich is located in Stearns County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 330 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Munich <2>
  • Saint Martin
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Martin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Martin
    • Saint Martin is located in Stearns County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Martin <2>
  • Saint Wendel
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Collegeville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Melrose
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Richmond
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Opole
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Opole. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opole
    • Opole is located in Stearns County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Opole
    • From Albany to Opole
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Albany ...

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 92 newspapers that have been published in the area around Albany.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Albany. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Albany and those printed in the larger area surrounding Albany.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5> of Albany.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Albany:

The official website for Albany: www.ci.albany.mn.us/

The official website for Stearns County: www.co.stearns.mn.us/

The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.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>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 Albany, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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- Albany) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Albany. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.6317, Longitude: -94.5740    









 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025