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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 Big Lake Chapel (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 Lake Chapel. 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 Big Lake Chapel ...

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 Big Lake Chapel: Big Lk. Chapel

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 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.

Big Lake Chapel is located in Carlton 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 Carlton County: Aitkin, Pine, Saint Louis & Douglas (WI).

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

  • Carlton County     (The home county of Big Lake Chapel)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Lake Chapel, with the one closest to Big Lake Chapel listed first.
    • Sawyer
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sawyer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawyer
      • Sawyer is located in Carlton County
    • Cloquet
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Scanlon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scanlon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scanlon
      • Scanlon is located in Carlton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 945 people
    • Otter Creek
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otter Creek
      • Otter Creek is located in Carlton County
    • Carlton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Thomson
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thomson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomson
      • Thomson is located in Carlton County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 158 people
    • Mahtowa
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mahtowa
      • Mahtowa is located in Carlton County
    • Esko
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Wrenshall
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wrenshall have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrenshall
      • Wrenshall is located in Carlton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 423 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wrenshall <2>
    • Cromwell
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Barnum
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Wright
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wright have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright
      • Wright is located in Carlton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wright <2>
    • Holyoke
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Holyoke. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holyoke
      • Holyoke is located in Carlton County
  • Aitkin County
    • Tamarack
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tamarack have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tamarack
      • Tamarack is located in Aitkin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
  • Pine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Lake Chapel, with the one closest to Big Lake Chapel listed first.
    • Sturgeon Lake
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Kerrick
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Denham
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Denham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denham
      • Denham is located in Pine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 34 people
    • Bruno
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruno
      • Bruno is located in Pine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
    • Willow River
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Saint Louis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Lake Chapel, with the one closest to Big Lake Chapel listed first.
    • Brookston
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brookston have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookston
      • Brookston is located in Saint Louis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 140 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brookston <2>
    • Saginaw
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saginaw have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saginaw
      • Saginaw is located in Saint Louis County
    • Adolph
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Adolph have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adolph
      • Adolph is located in Saint Louis County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Adolph <2>
    • Twig
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twig have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twig
      • Twig is located in Saint Louis County
    • Gary
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gary have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary
      • Gary is located in Saint Louis County
    • Hermantown
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hermantown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermantown
      • Hermantown is located in Saint Louis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,504 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hermantown <2>
    • Proctor
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Proctor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Proctor
      • Proctor is located in Saint Louis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,006 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Proctor <2>
    • Alborn
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alborn
      • Alborn is located in Saint Louis County
    • New Duluth
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Duluth
      • New Duluth is located in Saint Louis County
    • Floodwood
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Floodwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floodwood
      • Floodwood is located in Saint Louis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 525 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Floodwood <2>
    • Canyon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Canyon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canyon
      • Canyon is located in Saint Louis County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Canyon <2>
    • Duluth
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duluth
      • Duluth is located in Saint Louis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 85,773 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Duluth <2>
    • Meadowlands
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadowlands have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowlands
      • Meadowlands is located in Saint Louis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
  • Douglas County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Lake Chapel, with the one closest to Big Lake Chapel listed first.
    • Oliver
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oliver have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oliver
      • Oliver is located in Douglas County (WI)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 416 people
    • Dedham
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dedham. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dedham
      • Dedham is located in Douglas County (WI)
    • Superior Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Superior Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Superior Village
      • Superior Village is located in Douglas County (WI)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 713 people
    • Superior
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Superior
      • Superior is located in Douglas County (WI)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26,213 people
    • Saunders
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saunders
      • Saunders is located in Douglas County (WI)
    • South Range
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Range
      • South Range is located in Douglas County (WI)

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

Cemeteries Near Big Lake Chapel ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Big Lake Chapel.

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

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

  • Methodist Indian Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Methodist Indian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Methodist Indian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Big Lake Indian Catholic Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Big Lake Indian Catholic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Big Lake Indian Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sawyer Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sawyer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sawyer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Birch Lake Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Birch Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Birch Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Brevator Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brevator Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brevator Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Calvary Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Calvary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maple Grove Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • 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.
  • Holy Family Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillcrest Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillcrest Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillcrest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Brevator Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brevator Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brevator Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (94 more) ...
    • Salem Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Salem Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Salem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Francis Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Francis Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Francis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Hillside Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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>

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

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

  • Sawyer
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sawyer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawyer
    • Sawyer is located in Carlton County
  • Otter Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otter Creek
    • Otter Creek is located in Carlton County
  • Cloquet
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Corona
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Corona have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corona
    • Corona is located in Carlton County
  • Carlton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Mahtowa
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mahtowa
    • Mahtowa is located in Carlton County
  • Thomson
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thomson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomson
    • Thomson is located in Carlton County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 158 people
  • Cromwell
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Barnum
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Fond du Lac
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fond du Lac have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fond du Lac
    • Fond du Lac is located in Saint Louis County
  • Independence
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Independence have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
    • Independence is located in Saint Louis County
  • New Duluth
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Duluth
    • New Duluth is located in Saint Louis County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Smithville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smithville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithville
      • Smithville is located in Saint Louis County
    • West Duluth
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Duluth have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Duluth
      • West Duluth is located in Saint Louis County
    • Wright
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wright have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright
      • Wright is located in Carlton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wright <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Big Lake Chapel ...

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 28 newspapers that have been published in the area around Big Lake Chapel.

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

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Big Lake Chapel:

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

The official website for Carlton County: www.co.carlton.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 Big Lake Chapel, 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- Big Lake Chapel) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Big Lake Chapel. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.7216, Longitude: -92.5969       In this case, the coordinates for Big Lake Chapel have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 14 Jul 2025