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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 Blue Grass (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 Blue Grass. 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 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.

Blue Grass is located in Wadena 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 Wadena County: Becker, Cass, Hubbard, Otter Tail & Todd.

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

  • Wadena County     (The home county of Blue Grass)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue Grass, with the one closest to Blue Grass listed first.
    • Sebeka
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sebeka have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sebeka
      • Sebeka is located in Wadena County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 668 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sebeka <2>
    • Nimrod
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Verndale
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Aldrich
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Aldrich. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aldrich
      • Aldrich is located in Wadena County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
    • Menahga
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Menahga have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menahga
      • Menahga is located in Wadena County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,307 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Menahga <2>
  • Becker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue Grass, with the one closest to Blue Grass listed first.
    • Wolf Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolf Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Lake
      • Wolf Lake is located in Becker County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
    • Evergreen
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
      • Evergreen is located in Becker County
    • Osage
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue Grass, with the one closest to Blue Grass listed first.
    • Ellis
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • 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
    • Pillager
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • 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>
    • Lake Shore
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • 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>
    • Backus
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Backus have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Backus
      • Backus is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 255 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Backus <2>
  • Hubbard County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue Grass, with the one closest to Blue Grass listed first.
    • Park Rapids
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Dorset
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorset
      • Dorset is located in Hubbard County
    • Nevis
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nevis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nevis
      • Nevis is located in Hubbard County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 416 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nevis <2>
  • Morrison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue Grass, with the one closest to Blue Grass listed first.
    • Motley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Motley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Lincoln
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
      • Lincoln is located in Morrison County
  • Otter Tail County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue Grass, with the one closest to Blue Grass listed first.
    • Wadena
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wadena
      • Wadena is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,121 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wadena <2>
    • Bluffton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bluffton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluffton
      • Bluffton is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
    • Davies
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Davies. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davies
      • Davies is located in Otter Tail County
    • New York Mills
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Deer Creek
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
      • Deer Creek is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 321 people
    • Leaf City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leaf City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaf City
      • Leaf City is located in Otter Tail County
    • Henning
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Henning have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henning
      • Henning is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 806 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henning <2>
    • Ottertail
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ottertail have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottertail
      • Ottertail is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 660 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ottertail <2>
    • Perham
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Perham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perham
      • Perham is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,638 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perham <2>
    • Richville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richville
      • Richville is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richville <2>
    • Parkers Prairie
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Todd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue Grass, with the one closest to Blue Grass listed first.
    • Hewitt
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hewitt have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hewitt
      • Hewitt is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
    • Staples
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Staples have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Bertha
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bertha have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertha
      • Bertha is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 481 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bertha <2>
    • Philbrook
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • 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
    • Eagle Bend
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Bend
      • Eagle Bend is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 518 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eagle Bend <2>
    • Clarissa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarissa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarissa
      • Clarissa is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 651 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clarissa <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Blue Grass ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Blue Grass.

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

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

  • St. Huberts Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Huberts Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Huberts Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wing River Union Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wing River Union Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wing River Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • North Germany Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Germany Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Germany Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • West Lyons Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Greenhill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenhill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenhill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Leaf River Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Leaf River Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Leaf River Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Montrose Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Montrose Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Montrose Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sebeka Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sebeka Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sebeka Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Anns Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Wadena Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (136 more) ...
    • Mantyla Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mantyla Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mantyla Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Lyons Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lyons Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lyons Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Finnish Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Finnish Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Finnish 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.<6>

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

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

  • Sebeka
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sebeka have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sebeka
    • Sebeka is located in Wadena County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 668 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sebeka <2>
  • Nimrod
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Wadena
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wadena
    • Wadena is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,121 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wadena <2>
  • Verndale
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Bluffton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bluffton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluffton
    • Bluffton is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
  • Aldrich
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Aldrich. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aldrich
    • Aldrich is located in Wadena County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
  • Menahga
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Menahga have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menahga
    • Menahga is located in Wadena County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,307 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Menahga <2>
  • Davies
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Davies. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davies
    • Davies is located in Otter Tail County
  • Hewitt
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hewitt have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hewitt
    • Hewitt is located in Todd County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
  • Ellis
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • 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
  • Staples
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Staples have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • New York Mills
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Deer Creek
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
      • Deer Creek is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 321 people
    • Bertha
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bertha have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertha
      • Bertha is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 481 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bertha <2>
    • Hubbard
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hubbard have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hubbard
      • Hubbard is located in Hubbard County

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

Newspapers Published in Blue Grass ...

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 56 newspapers that have been published in the area around Blue Grass.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Blue Grass, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Blue Grass.

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 websites either 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 Blue Grass:

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

The official website for Wadena County: www.co.wadena.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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Blue Grass) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Blue Grass. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.5427, Longitude: -95.0100       In this case, the coordinates for Blue Grass have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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 Blue Grass, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025