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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 Clarkfield (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 Clarkfield. 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 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 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.

Clarkfield is located in Yellow Medicine 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 Yellow Medicine County: Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, Redwood, Renville & Deuel (SD).

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

  • Yellow Medicine County     (The home county of Clarkfield)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clarkfield, with the one closest to Clarkfield listed first.
    • Hazel Run
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hazel Run have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel Run
      • Hazel Run is located in Yellow Medicine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
    • Hanley Falls
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanley Falls
      • Hanley Falls is located in Yellow Medicine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
    • Granite Falls
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Saint Leo
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Leo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Leo
      • Saint Leo is located in Yellow Medicine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 90 people
    • Wood Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wood Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Lake
      • Wood Lake is located in Yellow Medicine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 395 people
    • Porter
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Porter have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
      • Porter is located in Yellow Medicine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 164 people
    • Echo
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Echo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
      • Echo is located in Yellow Medicine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 247 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Echo <2>
    • Canby
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canby
      • Canby is located in Yellow Medicine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,645 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Canby <2>
  • Chippewa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clarkfield, with the one closest to Clarkfield listed first.
    • Montevideo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Watson
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Watson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watson
      • Watson is located in Chippewa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 192 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Watson <2>
    • Maynard
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maynard have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maynard
      • Maynard is located in Chippewa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 344 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maynard <2>
    • Milan
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Big Bend City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Bend City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend City
      • Big Bend City is located in Chippewa County
    • Clara City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clara City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clara City
      • Clara City is located in Chippewa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,273 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clara City <2>
  • Lac qui Parle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clarkfield, with the one closest to Clarkfield listed first.
    • Boyd
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boyd have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
      • Boyd is located in Lac qui Parle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Boyd <2>
    • Dawson
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dawson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
      • Dawson is located in Lac qui Parle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,378 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dawson <2>
    • Providence
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Providence. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
      • Providence is located in Lac qui Parle County
    • Madison
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Madison have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madison
      • Madison is located in Lac qui Parle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,376 people
  • Lyon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clarkfield, with the one closest to Clarkfield listed first.
    • Cottonwood
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cottonwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
      • Cottonwood is located in Lyon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,223 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cottonwood <2>
    • Minneota
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Taunton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Ghent
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Marshall
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Lynd
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lynd have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynd
      • Lynd is located in Lyon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 455 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lynd <2>
  • Redwood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clarkfield, with the one closest to Clarkfield listed first.
    • Belview
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belview have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belview
      • Belview is located in Redwood County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
    • Vesta
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vesta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vesta
      • Vesta is located in Redwood County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 295 people
    • Milroy
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Renville County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clarkfield, with the one closest to Clarkfield listed first.
    • Sacred Heart
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Renville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Swift County
    • Appleton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near Clarkfield ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Clarkfield.

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

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

  • Clarkfield Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clarkfield Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clarkfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fridhem Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fridhem Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fridhem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bergen Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Spring Creek Norwegian Lutheran Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spring Creek Norwegian Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spring Creek Norwegian Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethlehem Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethlehem Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethlehem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethlehem Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Camp Release Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Petri Cemetery East
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Petri Cemetery East
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Petri Cemetery East have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Israels Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Israels Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Israels Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Petri Cemetery West
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Petri Cemetery West
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Petri Cemetery West have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ten Mile Lake Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ten Mile Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ten Mile Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (145 more) ...
    • Zion Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Stony Run Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Swede Home Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Swede Home Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Swede Home 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Clarkfield had a population of 178 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Clarkfield had a population of 775 people.

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

  • Hazel Run
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hazel Run have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel Run
    • Hazel Run is located in Yellow Medicine County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
  • Boyd
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boyd have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
    • Boyd is located in Lac qui Parle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Boyd <2>
  • Wegdahl
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wegdahl have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wegdahl
    • Wegdahl is located in Chippewa County
  • Hanley Falls
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanley Falls
    • Hanley Falls is located in Yellow Medicine County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
  • Montevideo
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Granite Falls
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Saint Leo
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Leo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Leo
    • Saint Leo is located in Yellow Medicine County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 90 people
  • Cottonwood
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cottonwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
    • Cottonwood is located in Lyon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,223 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cottonwood <2>
  • Lac qui Parle
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lac qui Parle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lac qui Parle
    • Lac qui Parle is located in Lac qui Parle County
  • Watson
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Watson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watson
    • Watson is located in Chippewa County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 192 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Watson <2>
  • Dawson
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dawson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
    • Dawson is located in Lac qui Parle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,378 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dawson <2>
  • Providence
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Providence. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
    • Providence is located in Lac qui Parle County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Wood Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wood Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Lake
      • Wood Lake is located in Yellow Medicine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 395 people
    • Minneota
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Taunton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Clarkfield ...

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 103 newspapers that have been published in the area around Clarkfield.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 helpful 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 Clarkfield:

The official website for Clarkfield: www.clarkfieldminnesota.com/

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Clarkfield) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Clarkfield. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.7908, Longitude: -95.8079       In this case, the coordinates for Clarkfield 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 Clarkfield, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025