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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 Cooley (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 Cooley. 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 southwest 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 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 west 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.

Cooley is located in Itasca 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 Itasca County: Aitkin, Beltrami, Cass, Koochiching & Saint Louis.

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

  • Itasca County     (The home county of Cooley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cooley, with the one closest to Cooley listed first.
    • Pengilly
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pengilly have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pengilly
      • Pengilly is located in Itasca County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pengilly <2>
    • Nashwauk
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nashwauk have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashwauk
      • Nashwauk is located in Itasca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 951 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nashwauk <2>
    • Calumet
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Calumet have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calumet
      • Calumet is located in Itasca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 351 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Calumet <2>
    • Keewatin
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Keewatin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keewatin
      • Keewatin is located in Itasca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,010 people
    • Marble
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marble have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marble
      • Marble is located in Itasca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 674 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marble <2>
    • Taconite
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Taconite have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taconite
      • Taconite is located in Itasca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 629 people
    • Bovey
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bovey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bovey
      • Bovey is located in Itasca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 784 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bovey <2>
    • Coleraine
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coleraine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleraine
      • Coleraine is located in Itasca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,972 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coleraine <2>
    • Goodland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Goodland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodland
      • Goodland is located in Itasca County
    • Warba
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warba have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warba
      • Warba is located in Itasca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 186 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Warba <2>
    • La Prairie
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for La Prairie. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Prairie
      • La Prairie is located in Itasca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 661 people
    • Grand Rapids
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Aitkin County
  • Saint Louis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cooley, with the one closest to Cooley listed first.
    • Hibbing
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hibbing
      • Hibbing is located in Saint Louis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,716 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hibbing <2>
    • Ruby Junction
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby Junction
      • Ruby Junction is located in Saint Louis County
    • Chisholm
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chisholm have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chisholm
      • Chisholm is located in Saint Louis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,803 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chisholm <2>
    • Side Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Side Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Side Lake
      • Side Lake is located in Saint Louis County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Side Lake <2>
    • Buhl
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buhl have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buhl
      • Buhl is located in Saint Louis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 969 people
    • Kinney
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kinney have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinney
      • Kinney is located in Saint Louis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
    • Forbes
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forbes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forbes
      • Forbes is located in Saint Louis County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Forbes <2>
    • Iron Junction
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Junction
      • Iron Junction is located in Saint Louis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
    • Ramshaw
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramshaw
      • Ramshaw is located in Saint Louis County
    • Bear River
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear River
      • Bear River is located in Saint Louis County
    • Mountain Iron
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Meadowlands
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadowlands have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowlands
      • Meadowlands is located in Saint Louis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people

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

Cemeteries Near Cooley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cooley.

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

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

  • Nashwauk Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nashwauk Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nashwauk Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Keewatin Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Keewatin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Keewatin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Trout Lake Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trout Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trout Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maple Hill Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Trout Lake Norwegian Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trout Lake Norwegian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trout Lake Norwegian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakeview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hibbing Park Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hibbing Park Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hibbing Park Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maple Grove Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Blackberry Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blackberry Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blackberry Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Wabana Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Wabana Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Wabana Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Balsam Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Balsam Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Balsam Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (33 more) ...
    • Old Soldiers Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Soldiers Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Soldiers Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Itasca Calvary Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Calvary Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary 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.<5>

While we didn't find Cooley in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Cooley.

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

  • Blackberry
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blackberry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackberry
    • Blackberry is located in Itasca County
  • La Prairie
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for La Prairie. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Prairie
    • La Prairie is located in Itasca County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 661 people
  • Grand Rapids
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Swan River
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Swan River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan River
    • Swan River is located in Itasca County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Swan River <2>
  • Wawina
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wawina. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wawina
    • Wawina is located in Itasca County
  • Cohasset
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cohasset have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cohasset
    • Cohasset is located in Itasca County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,739 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cohasset <2>
  • Island
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Island have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island
    • Island is located in Saint Louis County
  • Deer River
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deer River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer River
    • Deer River is located in Itasca County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 930 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deer River <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Cooley ...

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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cooley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Cooley, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Cooley.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Cooley:

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

The official website for Itasca County: www.co.itasca.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>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>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 Cooley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Cooley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cooley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.3583, Longitude: -93.1921       In this case, the coordinates for Cooley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025