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 Eldred (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 Eldred. 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 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.
Eldred 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 Eldred. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Eldred:
- Polk County (The home county of Eldred)
- The following are listed by their distance from Eldred, with the one closest to Eldred listed first.
- Climax
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Climax is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
- Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
- Fisher
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Fisher is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
- Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
- Crookston
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Nielsville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Nielsville is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nielsville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
- Shirley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Shirley is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
- Mallory
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Mallory is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallory
- Beltrami
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Beltrami is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
- Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
- Gentilly
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Gentilly is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly
- Melvin
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Melvin is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
- East Grand Forks
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Euclid
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Euclid is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euclid
- Dugdale
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Dugdale is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale
- Norman County
- The following are listed by their distance from Eldred, with the one closest to Eldred listed first.
- Shelly
(15 miles [24.1 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
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Hendrum
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Hendrum is located in Norman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hendrum
- Population from the 2020 Census: 282 people
- Flaming
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Flaming is located in Norman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flaming
- Ada
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Red Lake County
- The following are listed by their distance from Eldred, with the one closest to Eldred listed first.
- Dorothy
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Dorothy is located in Red Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorothy
- Red Lake Falls
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Grand Forks County (ND)
- The following are listed by their distance from Eldred, with the one closest to Eldred listed first.
- Reynolds
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Thompson
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Grand Forks
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Holmes
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Holmes is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes
- Kelly
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Kelly is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
- Traill County (ND)
- The following are listed by their distance from Eldred, with the one closest to Eldred listed first.
- Buxton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Caledonia
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Cummings
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Hillsboro
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Alton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Alton is located in Traill County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton
- Kelso
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Kelso is located in Traill County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelso
- Mayville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Blanchard
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Portland
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Eldred, see our County-by-County Page for Eldred.
Cemeteries Near Eldred ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Eldred.
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 Eldred - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Eldred covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Eldred, with the one closest to Eldred listed first.
- Bardo Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Skatvold Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Erickson Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Hanna Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- North Ringsaker Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bergit Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Andover Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Rosendahl Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Zion Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Union Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Fisher Lutheran Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Continue List (112 more) ...
- Sundet Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Fisher Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Hillstead Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
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 Eldred in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Eldred.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Eldred, with the one closest to Eldred listed first.
- Fisher
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Fisher is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
- Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
- Freeman
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Freeman is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
- Nielsville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Nielsville is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nielsville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
- Crookston
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Hixon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Hixon is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hixon
- Burwell
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Burwell is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burwell
- Mallory
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Mallory is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallory
- Shirley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Shirley is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
- Buxton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Beltrami
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Beltrami is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
- Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
- Reynolds
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Caledonia
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Thompson
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Benoit
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Benoit is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benoit
- Gentilly
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Gentilly is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Eldred. See our List of 1890's Communities around Eldred.
Newspapers Published in Eldred ...
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 69 newspapers that have been published in the area around Eldred.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Eldred, 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 Eldred.
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 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 Eldred:
- 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 Eldred, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Eldred) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |