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 Big Bend City (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 Big Bend City. 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 southeast 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 south.
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 south 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.
Big Bend City is located in Chippewa 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 Chippewa County: Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, Renville, Swift & Yellow Medicine.
Below are the counties that are near Big Bend City. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Big Bend City:
- Chippewa County (The home county of Big Bend City)
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Bend City, with the one closest to Big Bend City listed first.
- Milan
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Watson
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Montevideo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Maynard
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Clara City
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Big Stone County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Bend City, with the one closest to Big Bend City listed first.
- Correll
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Correll is located in Big Stone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Correll
- Population from the 2020 Census: 31 people
- Odessa
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Kandiyohi County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Bend City, with the one closest to Big Bend City listed first.
- Raymond
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Pennock
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Pennock is located in Kandiyohi County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 509 people
- Sunburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Sunburg is located in Kandiyohi County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
- Lac qui Parle County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Bend City, with the one closest to Big Bend City listed first.
- Louisburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Louisburg is located in Lac qui Parle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 43 people
- Dawson
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Boyd
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Boyd is located in Lac qui Parle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
- Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Boyd <1>
- Madison
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Madison is located in Lac qui Parle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madison
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,376 people
- Bellingham
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Bellingham is located in Lac qui Parle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellingham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
- Providence
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Providence is located in Lac qui Parle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Stevens County
- Hancock
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Swift County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Bend City, with the one closest to Big Bend City listed first.
- Danvers
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Danvers is located in Swift County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danvers
- Population from the 2020 Census: 89 people
- Holloway
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Holloway is located in Swift County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holloway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people
- Appleton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Benson
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Clontarf
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- De Graff
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- De Graff is located in Swift County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Graff
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
- Murdock
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Murdock is located in Swift County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murdock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
- Kerkhoven
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Swift Falls
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Swift Falls is located in Swift County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift Falls
- Yellow Medicine County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Bend City, with the one closest to Big Bend City listed first.
- Clarkfield
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Granite Falls
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Hazel Run
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Hazel Run is located in Yellow Medicine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel Run
- Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Big Bend City, see our County-by-County Page for Big Bend City.
Cemeteries Near Big Bend City ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Big Bend City.
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 Big Bend City - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Big Bend City covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Big Bend City, with the one closest to Big Bend City listed first.
- Big Bend Lutheran Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Original Big Bend Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Mandt Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Big Bend Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- West Bank Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Norwegian Lutheran Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Big Bend Lutheran Church Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- St. Josephs Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Kviteseid Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Zion Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Trinity Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Continue List (144 more) ...
- St. John's Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Brono Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Molin Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
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 Big Bend City in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Big Bend City.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Big Bend City, with the one closest to Big Bend City listed first.
- Hagan
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Hagan is located in Chippewa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hagan
- Milan
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Watson
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Danvers
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Danvers is located in Swift County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danvers
- Population from the 2020 Census: 89 people
- Holloway
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Holloway is located in Swift County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holloway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people
- Lac qui Parle
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lac qui Parle is located in Lac qui Parle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lac qui Parle
- Appleton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Montevideo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Cerro Gordo
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Cerro Gordo is located in Lac qui Parle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cerro Gordo
- Benson
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Louriston
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Louriston is located in Chippewa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louriston
- De Graff
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- De Graff is located in Swift County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Graff
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Clontarf
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Wegdahl
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Wegdahl is located in Chippewa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wegdahl
- Murdock
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Murdock is located in Swift County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murdock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Big Bend City. See our List of 1890's Communities around Big Bend City.
Newspapers Published in Big Bend City ...
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 80 newspapers that have been published in the area around Big Bend City.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Big Bend City, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Big Bend City.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Big Bend City:
- Websites specific to Minnesota
- Pages specific to Chippewa County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Big Stone County
- Kandiyohi County
- Lac qui Parle County
- Stevens County
- Swift County
- Yellow Medicine County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Minnesota
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 Big Bend City, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Big Bend City) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |