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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 Baxter (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 Baxter. 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 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.

Baxter is located in Crow Wing 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 Crow Wing County: Aitkin, Cass, Mille Lacs & Morrison.

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

  • Crow Wing County     (The home county of Baxter)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Baxter, with the one closest to Baxter listed first.
    • Brainerd
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Merrifield
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Merrifield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrifield
      • Merrifield is located in Crow Wing County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Merrifield <1>
    • Nisswa
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nisswa have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nisswa
      • Nisswa is located in Crow Wing County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,115 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nisswa <1>
    • Lake Hubert
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Hubert have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Hubert
      • Lake Hubert is located in Crow Wing County
    • Fort Ripley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Riverton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riverton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
      • Riverton is located in Crow Wing County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 115 people
    • Trommald
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trommald have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trommald
      • Trommald is located in Crow Wing County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
    • Pequot Lakes
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pequot Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pequot Lakes
      • Pequot Lakes is located in Crow Wing County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,305 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pequot Lakes <1>
    • Ironton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Breezy Point
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Breezy Point have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breezy Point
      • Breezy Point is located in Crow Wing County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,435 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Breezy Point <1>
    • Crosby
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crosby
      • Crosby is located in Crow Wing County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,315 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crosby <1>
    • Bay Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Lake
      • Bay Lake is located in Crow Wing County
    • Cuyuna
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cuyuna have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuyuna
      • Cuyuna is located in Crow Wing County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 365 people
  • Aitkin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Baxter, with the one closest to Baxter listed first.
    • Nichols
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Nichols. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nichols
      • Nichols is located in Aitkin County
    • Wealthwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wealthwood
      • Wealthwood is located in Aitkin County
    • Aitkin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Baxter, with the one closest to Baxter listed first.
    • East Gull Lake
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Gull Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Gull Lake
      • East Gull Lake is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,059 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for East Gull Lake <1>
    • Pillager
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pillager have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pillager
      • Pillager is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 486 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pillager <1>
    • Lake Shore
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Shore have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Shore
      • Lake Shore is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,069 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Shore <1>
    • Ellis
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ellis. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellis
      • Ellis is located in Cass County
    • Pine River
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Chickamaw Beach
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chickamaw Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chickamaw Beach
      • Chickamaw Beach is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 110 people
  • Mille Lacs County
    • Vineland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vineland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineland
      • Vineland is located in Mille Lacs County
  • Morrison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Baxter, with the one closest to Baxter listed first.
    • Motley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Motley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Motley
      • Motley is located in Morrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 653 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Motley <1>
    • Harding
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harding
      • Harding is located in Morrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 122 people
    • Cushing
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Lincoln
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
      • Lincoln is located in Morrison County
    • Randall
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Belle Prairie
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Belle Prairie. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Prairie
      • Belle Prairie is located in Morrison County
    • Lastrup
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lastrup have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lastrup
      • Lastrup is located in Morrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lastrup <1>
    • Little Falls
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Pierz
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pierz have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierz
      • Pierz is located in Morrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,364 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pierz <1>
    • Genola
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Genola have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genola
      • Genola is located in Morrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 66 people
    • Hillman
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillman have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman
      • Hillman is located in Morrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 36 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hillman <1>
    • Flensburg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flensburg
      • Flensburg is located in Morrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 223 people
    • Sobieski
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sobieski have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
  • Todd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Baxter, with the one closest to Baxter listed first.
    • Philbrook
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Philbrook. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Philbrook
      • Philbrook is located in Todd County
    • Staples
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Staples have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Staples
      • Staples is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,068 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Staples <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Baxter ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Baxter.

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

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

  • Baxter Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Baxter Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Baxter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Francis Assisi Catholic Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Francis Assisi Catholic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Francis Assisi Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. John Holy Cross Episcopal Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John Holy Cross Episcopal Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. John Holy Cross Episcopal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Land Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Land Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Land Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Gull River Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Crow Wing River Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crow Wing River Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crow Wing River Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Prosser Farm Site Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prosser Farm Site Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prosser Farm Site Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Thomas of the Pines
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Evergreen Memorial Gardens
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sylvan Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Franzen Family Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Franzen Family Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Franzen Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (112 more) ...
    • Mrs. Albert Schultz Grave
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mrs. Albert Schultz Grave
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mrs. Albert Schultz Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Oak Hill Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Mathias Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Mathias Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Mathias Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Baxter had railroad service and no post office. In 2020, Baxter had a population of 8,483 people.

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

  • Brainerd
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Crow Wing
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crow Wing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Wing
    • Crow Wing is located in Crow Wing County
  • Saint Mathias
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Mathias have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Mathias
    • Saint Mathias is located in Crow Wing County
  • Pillager
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pillager have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pillager
    • Pillager is located in Cass County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 486 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pillager <1>
  • Fort Ripley
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Motley
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Motley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Motley
    • Motley is located in Morrison County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 653 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Motley <1>
  • Lincoln
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
    • Lincoln is located in Morrison County
  • Cushing
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Randall
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Deerwood
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deerwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerwood
    • Deerwood is located in Crow Wing County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 725 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deerwood <1>
  • Philbrook
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Philbrook. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Philbrook
    • Philbrook is located in Todd County
  • Belle Prairie
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Belle Prairie. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Prairie
    • Belle Prairie is located in Morrison County
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Garrison
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garrison have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garrison
      • Garrison is located in Crow Wing County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 205 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garrison <1>
    • Nichols
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Nichols. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nichols
      • Nichols is located in Aitkin County
    • Ellis
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ellis. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellis
      • Ellis is located in Cass County

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

Newspapers Published in Baxter ...

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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around Baxter.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Baxter, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Baxter.

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 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 Baxter:

The official website for Baxter: www.ci.baxter.mn.us/

The official website for Crow Wing County: www.co.crow-wing.mn.us/

The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.gov/

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>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.
<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>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<5>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 Baxter, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Baxter) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Baxter. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.3416, Longitude: -94.2803       In this case, the coordinates for Baxter have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025