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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 Blomkest (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 Blomkest. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and 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.

Blomkest is located in Kandiyohi 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 Kandiyohi County: Chippewa, Meeker, Pope, Renville, Stearns & Swift.

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

  • Kandiyohi County     (The home county of Blomkest)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blomkest, with the one closest to Blomkest listed first.
    • Svea
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Svea is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Svea
    • Roseland
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Roseland is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
    • Lake Lillian
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Prinsburg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Prinsburg is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prinsburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 497 people
    • Willmar
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Wilmar
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Wilmar is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmar
    • Raymond
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Kandiyohi
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Kandiyohi is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kandiyohi
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 477 people
    • Pennock
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Pennock is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennock
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 509 people
    • Atwater
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Spicer
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Spicer is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spicer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,224 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spicer <1>
    • New London
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
  • Chippewa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blomkest, with the one closest to Blomkest listed first.
    • Clara City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Maynard
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • McLeod County
    • Stewart
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Stewart is located in McLeod County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 533 people
  • Meeker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blomkest, with the one closest to Blomkest listed first.
    • Cosmos
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Rosendale
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Rosendale is located in Meeker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosendale
    • Grove City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Cedar Mills
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Cedar Mills is located in Meeker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Mills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 51 people
    • Litchfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Manannah
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Manannah is located in Meeker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manannah
  • Redwood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blomkest, with the one closest to Blomkest listed first.
    • Delhi
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Delhi is located in Redwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delhi
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 63 people
    • North Redwood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • North Redwood is located in Redwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Redwood
    • Redwood Falls
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Belview
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Belview is located in Redwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belview
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
  • Renville County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blomkest, with the one closest to Blomkest listed first.
    • Danube
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Olivia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Bird Island
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Renville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Sacred Heart
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Hector
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Buffalo Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Morton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Franklin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Swift County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blomkest, with the one closest to Blomkest listed first.
    • Kerkhoven
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Murdock
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Murdock is located in Swift County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murdock
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
    • De Graff
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • De Graff is located in Swift County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Graff
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
  • Yellow Medicine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blomkest, with the one closest to Blomkest listed first.
    • Granite Falls
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Echo
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Echo is located in Yellow Medicine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 247 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Echo <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Blomkest ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Blomkest.

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 Blomkest - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Blomkest covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Blomkest Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Christine Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Roseland Christian Reformed Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Hardanger Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Svea Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Bethesda Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Long Lake Mission Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Tromso Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Holland Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Winfield Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Community Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (195 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.<2>

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

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

  • Svea
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Svea is located in Kandiyohi County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Svea
  • Roseland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Roseland is located in Kandiyohi County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
  • Lake Lillian
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Prinsburg
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Prinsburg is located in Kandiyohi County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prinsburg
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 497 people
  • Olivia
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Willmar
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Raymond
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Bird Island
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Renville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Cosmos
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Rosendale
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Rosendale is located in Meeker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosendale
  • Clara City
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Atwater
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Sacred Heart
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Bechyn
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Bechyn is located in Renville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bechyn

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

Newspapers Published in Blomkest ...

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 104 newspapers that have been published in the area around Blomkest.

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

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Blomkest:

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 Blomkest, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Blomkest) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.