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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 Buffalo Lake (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 Buffalo Lake. 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 Buffalo Lake ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Buffalo Lake: Buffalo Lk.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Buffalo Lake. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Buffalo Lake.

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and 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.

Buffalo Lake is located in Renville 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 Renville County: Brown, Chippewa, Kandiyohi, McLeod, Meeker, Nicollet, Redwood, Sibley & Yellow Medicine.

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

  • Renville County     (The home county of Buffalo Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Buffalo Lake, with the one closest to Buffalo Lake listed first.
    • Hector
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Bird Island
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Fairfax
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Olivia
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Franklin
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Morton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Danube
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Renville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Brown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Buffalo Lake, with the one closest to Buffalo Lake listed first.
    • Essig
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Evan
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Evan is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
    • New Ulm
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Sleepy Eye
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Kandiyohi County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Buffalo Lake, with the one closest to Buffalo Lake listed first.
    • Lake Lillian
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Blomkest
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Blomkest is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blomkest
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 157 people
    • Roseland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Roseland is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
    • Svea
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Svea is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Svea
    • Atwater
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • McLeod County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Buffalo Lake, with the one closest to Buffalo Lake listed first.
    • Stewart
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Stewart is located in McLeod County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 533 people
    • Fernando
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Fernando is located in McLeod County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fernando
    • Brownton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Hutchinson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Biscay
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Biscay is located in McLeod County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biscay
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
    • Sumter
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Sumter is located in McLeod County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumter
    • Glencoe
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Silver Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Plato
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Lester Prairie
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Meeker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Buffalo Lake, with the one closest to Buffalo Lake listed first.
    • Cedar Mills
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Cedar Mills is located in Meeker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Mills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 51 people
    • Cosmos
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Rosendale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Rosendale is located in Meeker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosendale
    • Darwin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Litchfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Grove City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Dassel
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Nicollet County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Buffalo Lake, with the one closest to Buffalo Lake listed first.
    • Lafayette
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • New Sweden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • New Sweden is located in Nicollet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Sweden
  • Redwood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Buffalo Lake, with the one closest to Buffalo Lake listed first.
    • Morgan
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Morgan is located in Redwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 832 people
    • North Redwood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • North Redwood is located in Redwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Redwood
    • Redwood Falls
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Delhi
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Delhi is located in Redwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delhi
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 63 people
  • Sibley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Buffalo Lake, with the one closest to Buffalo Lake listed first.
    • Gibbon
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Winthrop
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • New Auburn
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Gaylord
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Arlington
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Green Isle
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Buffalo Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Buffalo Lake.

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 Buffalo Lake - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Zion Lutheran Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Evangelical Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Knopke - Brown Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Preston Lake Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • German Lutheran Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • United Brethren Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • St. Pauls Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • St. John's Catholic Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Hector Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Brack Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Round Grove Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Methodist Episcopal Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (209 more) ...
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • St. Boniface Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • St. Paul Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)

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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Buffalo Lake had a population of 50 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Buffalo Lake had a population of 678 people.

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

  • Hector
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Stewart
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Stewart is located in McLeod County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 533 people
  • Lakeside
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Lakeside is located in Renville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
  • Brownton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Bird Island
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Cosmos
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Gibbon
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Cedar Mills
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Cedar Mills is located in Meeker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Mills
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 51 people
  • Fairfax
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Hutchinson
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Sumter
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Sumter is located in McLeod County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumter
  • Biscay
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Biscay is located in McLeod County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biscay
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Winthrop
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Greenleaf
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Greenleaf is located in Meeker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenleaf
    • Olivia
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Buffalo Lake ...

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 121 newspapers that have been published in the area around Buffalo Lake.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Buffalo Lake. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Buffalo Lake and those printed in the larger area surrounding Buffalo Lake.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Buffalo Lake.

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 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 Buffalo Lake:

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>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.
<3>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 Buffalo Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Buffalo Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.