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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 Basswood (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 Basswood. 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 and doctors 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.

Basswood is located in Otter Tail 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 Otter Tail County: Becker, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Todd, Wadena & Wilkin.

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

  • Otter Tail County     (The home county of Basswood)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Basswood, with the one closest to Basswood listed first.
    • Amor
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
      • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
    • Richville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richville
      • Richville is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richville <2>
    • Ottertail
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ottertail have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottertail
      • Ottertail is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 660 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ottertail <2>
    • Dent
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dent have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dent
      • Dent is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 185 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dent <2>
    • Leaf City
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leaf City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaf City
      • Leaf City is located in Otter Tail County
    • Perham
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Perham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perham
      • Perham is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,638 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perham <2>
    • Battle Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Clitherall
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clitherall have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clitherall
      • Clitherall is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 106 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clitherall <2>
    • Nirvana
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nirvana
      • Nirvana is located in Otter Tail County
    • Vergas
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vergas have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vergas
      • Vergas is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 354 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vergas <2>
    • Underwood
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Underwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Underwood
      • Underwood is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Underwood <2>
    • Edwards
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
      • Edwards is located in Otter Tail County
    • Henning
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Henning have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henning
      • Henning is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 806 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henning <2>
  • Becker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Basswood, with the one closest to Basswood listed first.
    • Frazee
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frazee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frazee
      • Frazee is located in Becker County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,381 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Frazee <2>
    • Bucks Mill
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bucks Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Mill
      • Bucks Mill is located in Becker County
    • Evergreen
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
      • Evergreen is located in Becker County
    • Detroit Lakes
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Detroit Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Detroit Lakes
      • Detroit Lakes is located in Becker County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,255 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Detroit Lakes <2>
    • Cormorant
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cormorant
      • Cormorant is located in Becker County
    • Rochert
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rochert have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochert
      • Rochert is located in Becker County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rochert <2>
    • Wolf Lake
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolf Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Lake
      • Wolf Lake is located in Becker County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Basswood, with the one closest to Basswood listed first.
    • Melby
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melby
      • Melby is located in Douglas County
    • Millerville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millerville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerville
      • Millerville is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
    • Evansville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Grant County
    • Ashby
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ashby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashby
      • Ashby is located in Grant County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ashby <2>
  • Todd County
    • Hewitt
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hewitt have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hewitt
      • Hewitt is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people

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

Newspapers Published in Basswood ...

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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around Basswood.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Basswood, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Basswood.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Basswood:

Cemeteries Near Basswood ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Basswood.

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

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

  • Oakwood Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oakwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oakwood Cemetery
  • Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery
  • Richville Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Richville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Richville Cemetery
  • Otter Tail County Sanitorium Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Otter Tail County Sanitorium Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Otter Tail County Sanitorium Cemetery
  • Zion Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Cemetery
  • St. James Catholic Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. James Catholic Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. James Catholic Church Cemetery
  • Silent Vale Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Silent Vale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Silent Vale Cemetery
  • Otter Tail Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Otter Tail Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Otter Tail Cemetery
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph Cemetery
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery
  • Immanuel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • 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.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Immanuel Cemetery
  • Continue List   (211 more) ...
    • Sacred Heart Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • 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.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sacred Heart Cemetery
    • Skibvedt Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Skibvedt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Skibvedt Cemetery
    • St. John's Lutheran Church Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. John's Lutheran Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John's Lutheran Church Cemetery

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>

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

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

  • Amor
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
    • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
  • Maine
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
    • Maine is located in Otter Tail County
  • Ottertail
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ottertail have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottertail
    • Ottertail is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 660 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ottertail <2>
  • Phelps
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Phelps have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps
    • Phelps is located in Otter Tail County
  • Battle Lake
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Perham
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Perham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perham
    • Perham is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,638 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perham <2>
  • Clitherall
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clitherall have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clitherall
    • Clitherall is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 106 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clitherall <2>
  • Underwood
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Underwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Underwood
    • Underwood is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Underwood <2>
  • Luce
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Luce have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luce
    • Luce is located in Otter Tail County
  • Edwards
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
    • Edwards is located in Otter Tail County
  • Vining
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Henning
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Henning have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henning
    • Henning is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 806 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henning <2>
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • New York Mills
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Wall Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wall Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wall Lake
      • Wall Lake is located in Otter Tail County
    • Frazee
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frazee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frazee
      • Frazee is located in Becker County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,381 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Frazee <2>

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Basswood. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Otter Tail County: www.co.otter-tail.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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Basswood) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Basswood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.4555, Longitude: -95.6934       In this case, the coordinates for Basswood have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Basswood, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024