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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 Dunvilla (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 Dunvilla. 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 and doctors 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.

Dunvilla is located in Otter Tail 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 Otter Tail County: Becker, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Todd, Wadena & Wilkin.

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

  • Otter Tail County     (The home county of Dunvilla)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dunvilla, with the one closest to Dunvilla listed first.
    • Pelican Rapids
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Vergas
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Erhard
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Edwards
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Edwards is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
    • Dent
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Dent is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dent
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 185 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dent <1>
    • Rothsay
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Maine
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Maine is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
    • Elizabeth
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Perham
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Perham is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,638 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perham <1>
    • Amor
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
    • Richville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Fergus Falls
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Underwood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
  • Becker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dunvilla, with the one closest to Dunvilla listed first.
    • Cormorant
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Cormorant is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cormorant
    • Bucks Mill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Bucks Mill is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Mill
    • Audubon
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Detroit Lakes
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Frazee
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Lake Park
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Rochert
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Callaway
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Richwood
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Richwood is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwood
    • Evergreen
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Evergreen is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
    • Ogema
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Ogema is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogema
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 183 people
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dunvilla, with the one closest to Dunvilla listed first.
    • Rollag
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Rollag is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollag
    • Barnesville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Hawley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Muskoda
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Muskoda is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muskoda
    • Hitterdal
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Hitterdal is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hitterdal
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 213 people
    • Baker
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Baker is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baker
    • Ulen
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Glyndon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Wilkin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dunvilla, with the one closest to Dunvilla listed first.
    • Lawndale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Lawndale is located in Wilkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawndale
    • Foxhome
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Foxhome is located in Wilkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxhome
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 112 people

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

Cemeteries Near Dunvilla ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Dunvilla.

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 Dunvilla - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Zion Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • St. Mary of the Lakes Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Scambler Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Grove Lake Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Grove Lake Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Lake Eunice Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Old Pelican Valley Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Lake View Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Augustana Lutheran Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • East Lida Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Lake Eunice Evangelical Free Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (174 more) ...

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 Dunvilla in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Dunvilla.

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

  • Cormorant
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cormorant is located in Becker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cormorant
  • Bucks Mill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Bucks Mill is located in Becker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Mill
  • Pelican Rapids
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Norwegian Grove
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Norwegian Grove is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwegian Grove
  • Tansem
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Tansem is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tansem
  • Rollag
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Rollag is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollag
  • Erhard
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Audubon
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Edwards
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Edwards is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
  • Lake Park
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Frazee
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Lawndale
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Lawndale is located in Wilkin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawndale
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Luce
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Luce is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luce
    • Rothsay
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Barnesville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Dunvilla ...

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 34 newspapers that have been published in the area around Dunvilla.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Dunvilla, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Dunvilla.

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 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 Dunvilla:

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 Dunvilla, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Dunvilla) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.