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 Climax (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 Climax. 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 hospitals 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.
Climax is located in Polk 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 Polk County: Clearwater, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Red Lake, Grand Forks (ND) & Traill (ND).
Below are the counties that are near Climax. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Climax:
- Polk County (The home county of Climax)
- The following are listed by their distance from Climax, with the one closest to Climax listed first.
- Nielsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Nielsville is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nielsville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
- Fisher
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Fisher is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
- Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
- Beltrami
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Beltrami is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
- Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
- Crookston
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Melvin
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Melvin is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
- Mallory
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Mallory is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallory
- Shirley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Shirley is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
- Gentilly
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Gentilly is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly
- East Grand Forks
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Fertile
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Dugdale
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Dugdale is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale
- Euclid
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Euclid is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euclid
- Norman County
- The following are listed by their distance from Climax, with the one closest to Climax listed first.
- Shelly
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Shelly is located in Norman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelly
- Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
- Halstad
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Hendrum
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Hendrum is located in Norman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hendrum
- Population from the 2020 Census: 282 people
- Ada
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Flaming
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Flaming is located in Norman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flaming
- Perley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Perley is located in Norman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 83 people
- Gary
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Red Lake County
- Dorothy
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Dorothy is located in Red Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorothy
- Grand Forks County (ND)
- The following are listed by their distance from Climax, with the one closest to Climax listed first.
- Reynolds
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Thompson
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Holmes
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Holmes is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes
- Grand Forks
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Traill County (ND)
- The following are listed by their distance from Climax, with the one closest to Climax listed first.
- Caledonia
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Buxton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Cummings
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Hillsboro
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Alton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Alton is located in Traill County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton
- Kelso
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Kelso is located in Traill County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelso
- Mayville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Blanchard
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Grandin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Portland
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Roseville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Roseville is located in Traill County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
- Greenfield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Greenfield is located in Traill County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
- Hatton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Climax, see our County-by-County Page for Climax.
Cemeteries Near Climax ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Climax.
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 Climax - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Climax covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Climax, with the one closest to Climax listed first.
- Bergit Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Skatvold Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Sundet Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- North Ringsaker Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Salem Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- St. Petri Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Zion Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Hanna Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Rosendahl Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Hillstead Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Bardo Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Shelly Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Continue List (115 more) ...
- Zion Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Andover Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Scandia Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
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>
While we didn't find Climax in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Climax.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Climax, with the one closest to Climax listed first.
- Nielsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Nielsville is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nielsville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
- Caledonia
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Fisher
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Fisher is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
- Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
- Buxton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Cummings
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Beltrami
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Beltrami is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
- Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
- Crookston
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Freeman
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Freeman is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
- Reynolds
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Hixon
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Hixon is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hixon
- Lockhart
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Lockhart is located in Norman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockhart
- Halstad
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Burwell
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Burwell is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burwell
- Thompson
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Hillsboro
(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 Climax. See our List of 1890's Communities around Climax.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Climax ...
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 60 newspapers that have been published in the area around Climax.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Climax. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Climax and those printed in the larger area surrounding Climax.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Climax.
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 Climax:
- Websites specific to Minnesota
- Pages specific to Polk County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Norman County
- Red Lake County
- Grand Forks County
- Traill County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Minnesota
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 Climax, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Climax) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |