RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Minnesota >> Cass County >> Cass Lake >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Minnesota

The Commemorative Quarter for Minnesota





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 Cass 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 Cass 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 Cass 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.

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 Cass Lake: Cass Lk.

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.

Cass Lake is located in Cass 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 Cass County: Aitkin, Beltrami, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Itasca, Morrison, Todd & Wadena.

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

  • Cass County     (The home county of Cass Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cass Lake, with the one closest to Cass Lake listed first.
    • Ryan Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ryan Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ryan Village
      • Ryan Village is located in Cass County
    • North Central Cass
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Central Cass have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Central Cass
      • North Central Cass is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 29 people
    • Bena
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bena have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bena
      • Bena is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 125 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bena <2>
    • Walker
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walker have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walker
      • Walker is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 928 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Walker <2>
    • Federal Dam
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Federal Dam have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Federal Dam
      • Federal Dam is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 110 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Federal Dam <2>
    • Ah-gwah-ching
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ah-gwah-ching have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ah-gwah-ching
      • Ah-gwah-ching is located in Cass County
    • Whipholt
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whipholt
      • Whipholt is located in Cass County
    • Boy River
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boy River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boy River
      • Boy River is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 51 people
  • Beltrami County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cass Lake, with the one closest to Cass Lake listed first.
    • Pennington
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Rosby
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rosby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosby
      • Rosby is located in Beltrami County
    • Lavinia
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lavinia
      • Lavinia is located in Beltrami County
    • Bemidji
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Turtle River
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turtle River
      • Turtle River is located in Beltrami County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
    • Tenstrike
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Wilton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilton
      • Wilton is located in Beltrami County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 295 people
    • Hines
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Blackduck
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Puposky
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puposky
      • Puposky is located in Beltrami County
    • Solway
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Langor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langor
      • Langor is located in Beltrami County
    • Pinewood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinewood
      • Pinewood is located in Beltrami County
  • Hubbard County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cass Lake, with the one closest to Cass Lake listed first.
    • Laporte
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Laporte have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laporte
      • Laporte is located in Hubbard County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 118 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Laporte <2>
    • Benedict
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Benedict have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benedict
      • Benedict is located in Hubbard County
    • Lake George
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake George have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake George
      • Lake George is located in Hubbard County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake George <2>
    • Akeley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Akeley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Akeley
      • Akeley is located in Hubbard County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 449 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Akeley <2>
    • Nevis
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • 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>
  • Itasca County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cass Lake, with the one closest to Cass Lake listed first.
    • Squaw Lake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Squaw Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squaw Lake
      • Squaw Lake is located in Itasca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 106 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Squaw Lake <2>
    • Max
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Max have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Max
      • Max is located in Itasca County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Max <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Cass Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cass 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.

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

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

  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Thompson Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Thompson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Thompson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Farris Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Farris Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Farris Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ten Lake Twp. Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Green Lea Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Green Lea Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Green Lea Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Zion Memorial Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • East Side Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Side Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Side Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Malvik Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Malvik Lutheran Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Malvik Lutheran Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • John Brown Cutback Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the John Brown Cutback Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the John Brown Cutback Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
  • St. Lawrence Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Lawrence Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Lawrence Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Guthrie Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Guthrie Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Guthrie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Aardahl Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (57 more) ...
    • Nary Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nary Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Sugar Bush Twp. Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sugar Bush Twp. Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sugar Bush Twp. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • South Arm Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Arm Cemetery
      • The South Arm Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Turtle River Twp. Cemetery

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Cass 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 56 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cass Lake.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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

The official website for Cass County: www.co.cass.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>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.
<4>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.
<5>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- Cass Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cass Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.3789, Longitude: -94.5989       In this case, the coordinates for Cass Lake have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025