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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 Alvarado (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 Alvarado. 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 doctors and 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.

Alvarado is located in Marshall County.

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 Marshall County: Beltrami, Kittson, Pennington, Polk, Roseau, Grand Forks (ND), Pembina (ND) & Walsh (ND).

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

  • Marshall County     (The home county of Alvarado)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alvarado, with the one closest to Alvarado listed first.
    • Oslo
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Oslo is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oslo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 323 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oslo <1>
    • Big Woods
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Big Woods is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Woods
    • Warren
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Argyle
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Stephen
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Englund
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Englund is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englund
    • Viking
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Viking is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viking
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 96 people
  • Kittson County
    • Donaldson
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Donaldson is located in Kittson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donaldson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 39 people
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alvarado, with the one closest to Alvarado listed first.
    • East Grand Forks
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Mallory
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Mallory is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallory
    • Euclid
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Euclid is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euclid
    • Fisher
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Fisher is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
    • Shirley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Shirley is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
  • Grand Forks County (ND)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alvarado, with the one closest to Alvarado listed first.
    • Manvel
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Manvel is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manvel
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 372 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manvel <1>
    • Kelly
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Kelly is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
    • Grand Forks
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Mekinock
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Johnstown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Johnstown is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
    • Gilby
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Gilby is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 230 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilby <1>
    • Emerado
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Emerado is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerado
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 461 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Emerado <1>
    • Thompson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Thompson is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,027 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thompson <1>
    • Arvilla
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Inkster
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Inkster is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inkster
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Inkster <1>
  • Pembina County (ND)
    • Drayton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Drayton is located in Pembina County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drayton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 728 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Drayton <1>
  • Walsh County (ND)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alvarado, with the one closest to Alvarado listed first.
    • Warsaw
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Warsaw is located in Walsh County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warsaw
    • Ardoch
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Minto
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Minto is located in Walsh County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minto
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 582 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Minto <1>
    • Herriott
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Herriott is located in Walsh County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herriott
    • Forest River
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Cashel ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Cashel is located in Walsh County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cashel
    • Grafton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Grafton is located in Walsh County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grafton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,075 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grafton <1>
    • Herrick
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Auburn
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Auburn is located in Walsh County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburn

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

Cemeteries Near Alvarado ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alvarado.

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

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

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

  • Oak Lawn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Swedish Evangelical Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Vega Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Vega Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Mesopotamia Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Swedish Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Nyskoga Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Big Woods Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Kongsvinger Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (79 more) ...
    • Presbyterian Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Malm Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Tabor Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)

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>

While we didn't find Alvarado in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Alvarado.

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

  • Big Woods
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Big Woods is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Woods
  • Tabor
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Tabor is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabor
  • Warren
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Manvel
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Manvel is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manvel
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 372 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manvel <1>
  • Argyle
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Angus
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Ardoch
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Kelly
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Kelly is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
  • East Grand Forks
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Stephen
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Minto
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Minto is located in Walsh County (ND)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minto
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 582 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Minto <1>
  • Grand Forks
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Mekinock
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Forest River
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Johnstown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Johnstown is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown

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

Newspapers Published in Alvarado ...

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 64 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alvarado.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Alvarado, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Alvarado.

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 Alvarado:

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 Alvarado, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Alvarado) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.