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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 Brandon (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 Brandon. 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 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.

Brandon is located in Douglas 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 Douglas County: Grant, Otter Tail, Pope, Stearns, Stevens & Todd.

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

  • Douglas County     (The home county of Brandon)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brandon, with the one closest to Brandon listed first.
    • Garfield
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Evansville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Millerville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerville
      • Millerville is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
    • Melby
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Holmes City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Alexandria
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Kensington
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Carlos
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carlos have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlos
      • Carlos is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 490 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carlos <2>
    • Miltona
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Nelson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nelson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
      • Nelson is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 192 people
    • Forada
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forada have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forada
      • Forada is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 192 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Forada <2>
    • Belle River
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Belle River. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle River
      • Belle River is located in Douglas County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Belle River
      • From Brandon to Belle River
    • Osakis
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
  • Grant County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brandon, with the one closest to Brandon listed first.
    • Erdahl
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Ashby
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ashby have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashby
      • Ashby is located in Grant County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ashby <2>
    • Hoffman
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Barrett
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barrett have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrett
      • Barrett is located in Grant County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 414 people
    • Elbow Lake
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Wendell
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Herman
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Norcross
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norcross have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norcross
      • Norcross is located in Grant County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
  • Otter Tail County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brandon, with the one closest to Brandon listed first.
    • Urbank
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Urbank have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urbank
      • Urbank is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 52 people
    • Parkers Prairie
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Vining
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Dalton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Clitherall
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clitherall have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clitherall
      • Clitherall is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 106 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clitherall <2>
    • Nirvana
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Battle Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Henning
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Henning have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
    • Underwood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Underwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Underwood
      • Underwood is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Underwood <2>
    • Western
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Western. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Western
      • Western is located in Otter Tail County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Western
      • From Brandon to Western
  • Pope County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brandon, with the one closest to Brandon listed first.
    • Farwell
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farwell have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farwell
      • Farwell is located in Pope County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 52 people
    • Lowry
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lowry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowry
      • Lowry is located in Pope County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 301 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lowry <2>
    • Long Beach
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Beach
      • Long Beach is located in Pope County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 417 people
    • Glenwood
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Villard
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • New Prairie ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Starbuck
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Cyrus
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cyrus have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cyrus
      • Cyrus is located in Pope County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 274 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cyrus <2>
    • Westport
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Stevens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brandon, with the one closest to Brandon listed first.
    • Donnelly
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Donnelly have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donnelly
      • Donnelly is located in Stevens County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 233 people
    • Morris
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Todd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brandon, with the one closest to Brandon listed first.
    • Clotho
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • West Union
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Union have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Union
      • West Union is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
    • Eagle Bend
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>

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

Cemeteries Near Brandon ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brandon.

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

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

  • Brandon Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brandon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brandon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Chippewa Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chippewa Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chippewa Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Petri Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Petri Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Petri Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Moe Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Moe Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Moe Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • East Moe Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Moe Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Moe Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mound Grove Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mound Grove Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mound Grove Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Lukes Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Lukes Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Lukes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Moe Heights Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Moe Heights Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Moe Heights Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Zionsborg Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zionsborg Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zionsborg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Frykesende Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Frykesende Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Frykesende Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Finnish Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • 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.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (203 more) ...
    • St. Paul's Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Paul's Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Paul's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Lake Ida Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lake Ida Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lake Ida Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Millerville Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Millerville Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Millerville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Brandon had a population of 225 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Brandon had a population of 489 people.

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

  • Garfield
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Evansville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Millerville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerville
    • Millerville is located in Douglas County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
  • Leaf Valley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leaf Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaf Valley
    • Leaf Valley is located in Douglas County
  • Holmes City
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Melby
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Erdahl
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Alexandria
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Hoffman
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Kensington
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Ashby
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ashby have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashby
    • Ashby is located in Grant County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ashby <2>
  • Barrett
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barrett have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrett
    • Barrett is located in Grant County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 414 people
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Farwell
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farwell have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farwell
      • Farwell is located in Pope County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 52 people
    • Thorsborg
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thorsborg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorsborg
      • Thorsborg is located in Grant County
    • Miltona
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Brandon ...

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 71 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brandon.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Brandon. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Brandon and those printed in the larger area surrounding Brandon.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5> of Brandon.

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 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 Brandon:

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

The official website for Douglas County: www.co.douglas.mn.us/

The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Brandon, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Brandon) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Brandon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.9661, Longitude: -95.5978    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025