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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 Erhard (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 Erhard. 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.

Name Variations for Erhard ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Another variation: Erhart.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Erhard. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Erhard.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 doctors and 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.

Erhard 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 Erhard. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Erhard:

  • Otter Tail County     (The home county of Erhard)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Erhard, with the one closest to Erhard listed first.
    • Edwards
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Edwards is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
    • Pelican Rapids
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Elizabeth
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Rothsay
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Fergus Falls
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Maine
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Maine is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
    • Amor
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
    • Underwood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Dent
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • 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>
    • Vergas
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Richville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Battle Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Becker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Erhard, with the one closest to Erhard listed first.
    • Cormorant
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Cormorant is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cormorant
    • Bucks Mill
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Bucks Mill is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Mill
    • Detroit Lakes
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Frazee
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Audubon
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Lake Park
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Erhard, with the one closest to Erhard listed first.
    • Rollag
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Rollag is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollag
    • Barnesville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Baker
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Baker is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baker
    • Hawley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Muskoda
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Muskoda is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muskoda
  • Grant County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Erhard, with the one closest to Erhard listed first.
    • Wendell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Ashby
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Wilkin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Erhard, with the one closest to Erhard listed first.
    • Lawndale
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Lawndale is located in Wilkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawndale
    • Foxhome
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Foxhome is located in Wilkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxhome
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 112 people
    • Breckenridge
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Doran
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Doran is located in Wilkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doran
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 47 people
    • Kent
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Kent is located in Wilkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 72 people
    • Campbell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Campbell is located in Wilkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 152 people
    • Wolverton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Wolverton is located in Wilkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolverton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
  • Richland County (ND)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Erhard, with the one closest to Erhard listed first.
    • Wahpeton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Wahpeton is located in Richland County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahpeton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,728 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wahpeton <1>
    • Abercrombie
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Erhard ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Erhard.

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

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

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

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Erhard had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Erhard had a population of 145 people.

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

  • Edwards
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Edwards is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
  • Pelican Rapids
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Elizabeth
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Carlisle
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Carlisle is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlisle
  • Rothsay
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Norwegian Grove
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Norwegian Grove is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwegian Grove
  • Fergus Falls
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Lawndale
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Lawndale is located in Wilkin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawndale
  • French
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • French is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French
  • Wall Lake
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Wall Lake is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wall Lake
  • Phelps
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Phelps is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps
  • Maine
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Maine is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Tansem
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Tansem is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tansem
    • Parkdale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Parkdale is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkdale
    • Underwood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Erhard ...

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 104 newspapers that have been published in the area around Erhard.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Erhard, 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 Erhard.

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 either 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 Erhard:

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 Erhard, 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- Erhard) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.