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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 Bay Lake (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 Bay Lake. 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.

Name Variations for Bay Lake ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Bay Lake: Bay Lk.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 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.

Bay Lake 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 Bay Lake. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bay Lake:

  • Crow Wing County     (The home county of Bay Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Lake, with the one closest to Bay Lake listed first.
    • Deerwood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deerwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Crosby
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Ironton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Cuyuna
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cuyuna have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
    • Garrison
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garrison have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Trommald
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trommald have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
    • Riverton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riverton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
    • Merrifield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Merrifield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Brainerd
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Baxter
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Baxter have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baxter
      • Baxter is located in Crow Wing County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,483 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Baxter <2>
    • Lake Hubert
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Hubert have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Hubert
      • Lake Hubert is located in Crow Wing County
    • Crosslake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Breezy Point
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Breezy Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Aitkin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Lake, with the one closest to Bay Lake listed first.
    • Nichols
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • 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
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Nichols
      • From Bay Lake to Nichols
    • Wealthwood
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Aitkin
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Malmo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Hassman
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Kimberly
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Palisade
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Palisade have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palisade
      • Palisade is located in Aitkin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 169 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Palisade <2>
    • McGrath
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McGrath have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGrath
      • McGrath is located in Aitkin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 73 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McGrath <2>
    • McGregor
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Lake, with the one closest to Bay Lake listed first.
    • East Gull Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Gull Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Lake Shore
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Shore have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Outing
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Outing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Outing
      • Outing is located in Cass County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Outing <2>
    • Pillager
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pillager have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Mille Lacs County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Lake, with the one closest to Bay Lake listed first.
    • Vineland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vineland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineland
      • Vineland is located in Mille Lacs County
    • Onamia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Onamia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onamia
      • Onamia is located in Mille Lacs County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 858 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Onamia <2>
    • Wahkon
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wahkon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahkon
      • Wahkon is located in Mille Lacs County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 218 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wahkon <2>
    • Isle
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Isle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isle
      • Isle is located in Mille Lacs County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 790 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Isle <2>
  • Morrison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Lake, with the one closest to Bay Lake listed first.
    • Harding
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Hillman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Lastrup
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lastrup have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Bay Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bay Lake.

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

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

  • Bay Lake Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bay Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bay Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Deerwood Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Deerwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Deerwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bennettville Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bennettville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bennettville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dorris Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dorris Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dorris Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lakewood Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakewood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakewood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Irondale Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Irondale Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Irondale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Garrison Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Garrison Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Garrison Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Immanuel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • 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.
  • Maple Grove Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dykeman Union Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dykeman Union Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dykeman Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Diamond Lake Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Diamond Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Diamond Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (96 more) ...

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>

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

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

  • Deerwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deerwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Garrison
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garrison have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Nichols
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • 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
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Nichols
    • From Bay Lake to Nichols
  • Aitkin
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Brainerd
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Rossburg
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rossburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossburg
    • Rossburg is located in Aitkin County
  • Vineland
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vineland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineland
    • Vineland is located in Mille Lacs County
  • Malmo
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Baxter
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Baxter have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baxter
    • Baxter is located in Crow Wing County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,483 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Baxter <2>
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Crow Wing
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crow Wing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Mathias have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Mathias
      • Saint Mathias is located in Crow Wing County
    • Opstead
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Opstead have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opstead
      • Opstead is located in Mille Lacs County
    • Kimberly
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Fort Ripley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Pillager
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pillager have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Bay Lake ...

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 44 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bay Lake.

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

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 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 Bay Lake:

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

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>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>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 Bay Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bay Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bay Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.4095, Longitude: -93.8739    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025