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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 Clara City (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 Clara City. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

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 south 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.

Clara City is located in Chippewa 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 Chippewa County: Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, Renville, Swift & Yellow Medicine.

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

  • Chippewa County     (The home county of Clara City)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clara City, with the one closest to Clara City listed first.
    • Maynard
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Montevideo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Watson
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Big Bend City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Big Bend City is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend City
    • Milan
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Kandiyohi County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clara City, with the one closest to Clara City listed first.
    • Raymond
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Prinsburg
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Prinsburg is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prinsburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 497 people
    • Roseland
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Roseland is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
    • Pennock
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Pennock is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennock
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 509 people
    • Blomkest
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Blomkest is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blomkest
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 157 people
    • Svea
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Svea is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Svea
    • Willmar
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Wilmar
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Wilmar is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmar
    • Lake Lillian
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Kandiyohi
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Kandiyohi is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kandiyohi
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 477 people
    • Sunburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Sunburg is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
    • Spicer
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • 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>
  • Lac qui Parle County
    • Boyd
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Boyd is located in Lac qui Parle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Boyd <1>
  • Lyon County
    • Cottonwood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Redwood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clara City, with the one closest to Clara City listed first.
    • Belview
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Belview is located in Redwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belview
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
    • 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
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • North Redwood is located in Redwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Redwood
  • Renville County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clara City, with the one closest to Clara City listed first.
    • Sacred Heart
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Renville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Danube
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Olivia
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Bird Island
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Swift County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clara City, with the one closest to Clara City listed first.
    • Kerkhoven
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Murdock
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Murdock is located in Swift County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murdock
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
    • De Graff
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • De Graff is located in Swift County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Graff
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
    • Benson
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Danvers
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Danvers is located in Swift County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danvers
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 89 people
    • Swift Falls
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Swift Falls is located in Swift County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift Falls
  • Yellow Medicine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clara City, with the one closest to Clara City listed first.
    • Granite Falls
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Wood Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Wood Lake is located in Yellow Medicine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 395 people
    • Hanley Falls
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Hanley Falls is located in Yellow Medicine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanley Falls
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
    • Hazel Run
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Hazel Run is located in Yellow Medicine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel Run
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
    • Echo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • 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>
    • Clarkfield
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Clara City ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Clara City.

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 Clara City - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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 in 1895, Clara City had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Clara City had a population of 1,273 people.

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

  • Maynard
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Raymond
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Prinsburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Prinsburg is located in Kandiyohi County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prinsburg
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 497 people
  • Louriston
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Louriston is located in Chippewa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louriston
  • Sacred Heart
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Roseland
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Roseland is located in Kandiyohi County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
  • Granite Falls
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Renville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Wegdahl
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Wegdahl is located in Chippewa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wegdahl
  • Kerkhoven
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Svea
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Svea is located in Kandiyohi County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Svea
  • Montevideo
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Willmar
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Murdock
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Murdock is located in Swift County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murdock
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
    • De Graff
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • De Graff is located in Swift County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Graff
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Clara City ...

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 110 newspapers that have been published in the area around Clara City.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Clara City:

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 Clara City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Clara City) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.