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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Balsam (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 Balsam. 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 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 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.

Balsam is located in Aitkin 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 Aitkin County: Carlton, Cass, Crow Wing, Itasca, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Pine & Saint Louis.

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

  • Aitkin County     (The home county of Balsam)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balsam, with the one closest to Balsam listed first.
    • Libby
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Libby is located in Aitkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Libby
    • Tamarack
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Tamarack is located in Aitkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tamarack
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
    • Minnewawa
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Minnewawa is located in Aitkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minnewawa
    • McGregor
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jacobson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Palisade
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Kimberly
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Kimberly is located in Aitkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimberly
    • Haypoint
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Haypoint is located in Aitkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haypoint
    • Hassman
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Hassman is located in Aitkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hassman
    • Hill City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Swatara
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Swatara is located in Aitkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swatara
  • Carlton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balsam, with the one closest to Balsam listed first.
    • Wright
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Cromwell
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Automba
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Automba is located in Carlton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Automba
    • Kettle River
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Sawyer
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Sawyer is located in Carlton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawyer
    • Mahtowa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Mahtowa is located in Carlton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mahtowa
    • Barnum
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Moose Lake
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Itasca County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balsam, with the one closest to Balsam listed first.
    • Wawina
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Wawina is located in Itasca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wawina
    • Swan River
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Warba
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Goodland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Goodland is located in Itasca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodland
  • Pine County
    • Denham
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Denham is located in Pine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 34 people
  • Saint Louis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balsam, with the one closest to Balsam listed first.
    • Floodwood
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Island
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Island is located in Saint Louis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island
    • Brookston
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Meadowlands
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Meadowlands is located in Saint Louis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowlands
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
    • Alborn
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Alborn is located in Saint Louis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alborn

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

Cemeteries Near Balsam ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Balsam.

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

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

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

  • Round Lake Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Tschibegamig Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Prairie Lake Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Shamrock Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Wright Catholic Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Wright Community Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Violet Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Fine Lakes Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Grayling Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (66 more) ...
    • Lakeside Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Verdon Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Sheriff Lake Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)

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 Balsam in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Balsam.

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

  • Libby
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Libby is located in Aitkin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Libby
  • Tamarack
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Tamarack is located in Aitkin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tamarack
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
  • Wright
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • McGregor
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Cromwell
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Floodwood
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Island
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Island is located in Saint Louis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island
  • Wawina
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Wawina is located in Itasca County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wawina
  • Corona
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Corona is located in Carlton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corona
  • Kimberly
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Kimberly is located in Aitkin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimberly
  • Swan River
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
  • Sawyer
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Sawyer is located in Carlton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawyer
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Rossburg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Rossburg is located in Aitkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossburg
    • Mahtowa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Mahtowa is located in Carlton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mahtowa
    • Moose Lake
      (29 miles [46.7 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 Balsam. See our List of 1890's Communities around Balsam.

Newspapers Published in Balsam ...

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 17 newspapers that have been published in the area around Balsam.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Balsam, 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 Balsam.

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 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 Balsam:

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