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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 Eureka Center (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 Eureka Center. 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 Eureka Center ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Eureka Center: Eureka Ctr. (or less commonly used: Eureka Cen., Eureka Cent. or Eureka Cntr.)

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 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.

Eureka Center is located in Dakota 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 Dakota County: Goodhue, Hennepin, Ramsey, Rice, Scott, Washington & Pierce (WI).

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

  • Dakota County     (The home county of Eureka Center)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Eureka Center, with the one closest to Eureka Center listed first.
    • Lakeville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Castle Rock
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castle Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Rock
      • Castle Rock is located in Dakota County
    • Farmington
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Waterford
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Hampton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Apple Valley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Apple Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Valley
      • Apple Valley is located in Dakota County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,847 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Apple Valley <1>
    • Randolph
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Burnsville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burnsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnsville
      • Burnsville is located in Dakota County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 62,170 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Burnsville <1>
    • Coates
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coates have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coates
      • Coates is located in Dakota County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
    • Rosemount
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rosemount have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosemount
      • Rosemount is located in Dakota County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,798 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rosemount <1>
    • Vermillion
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vermillion have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vermillion
      • Vermillion is located in Dakota County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 419 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vermillion <1>
    • New Trier
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Trier have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Trier
      • New Trier is located in Dakota County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 106 people
    • Nicols
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Nicols. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicols
      • Nicols is located in Dakota County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Nicols
      • From Eureka Center to Nicols
  • Carver County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Eureka Center, with the one closest to Eureka Center listed first.
    • Carver
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Chaska
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Chanhassen
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Hazeltine
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Dahlgren
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dahlgren. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dahlgren
      • Dahlgren is located in Carver County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Dahlgren
      • From Eureka Center to Dahlgren
    • Victoria
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Victoria have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victoria
      • Victoria is located in Carver County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,667 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Victoria <1>
    • Gotha
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gotha. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gotha
      • Gotha is located in Carver County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Gotha
      • From Eureka Center to Gotha
    • Cologne
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cologne have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cologne
      • Cologne is located in Carver County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,860 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cologne <1>
  • Goodhue County
  • Hennepin County
  • Le Sueur County
  • Ramsey County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Eureka Center, with the one closest to Eureka Center listed first.
    • Highwood
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Highwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highwood
      • Highwood is located in Ramsey County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Highwood
      • From Eureka Center to Highwood
    • Saint Paul
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Falcon Heights
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Falcon Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falcon Heights
      • Falcon Heights is located in Ramsey County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,628 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Falcon Heights <1>
    • Lauderdale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lauderdale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lauderdale
      • Lauderdale is located in Ramsey County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,484 people
    • Roseville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roseville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
      • Roseville is located in Ramsey County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 36,178 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roseville <1>
    • Little Canada
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Canada have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Canada
      • Little Canada is located in Ramsey County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,335 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Little Canada <1>
  • Rice County
  • Scott County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Eureka Center, with the one closest to Eureka Center listed first.
    • Elko
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elko have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elko
      • Elko is located in Scott County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elko <1>
    • Elko New Market
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elko New Market have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elko New Market
      • Elko New Market is located in Scott County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,733 people
    • New Market
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Market have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Market
      • New Market is located in Scott County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Market <1>
    • Credit River
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Credit River have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Credit River
      • Credit River is located in Scott County
    • Cedar Lake
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Prior Lake
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Savage
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Savage have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savage
      • Savage is located in Scott County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 32,858 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Savage <1>
    • Saint Patrick
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • New Prague
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Marystown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Shakopee
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shakopee have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shakopee
      • Shakopee is located in Scott County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 43,020 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shakopee <1>
    • Jordan
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Union Hill
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Steele County
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Eureka Center, with the one closest to Eureka Center listed first.
    • Saint Paul Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Cottage Grove
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Newport
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newport have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
      • Newport is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,138 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newport <1>
    • Woodbury
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodbury have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodbury
      • Woodbury is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 74,255 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Woodbury <1>
    • Landfall
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Landfall have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landfall
      • Landfall is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 733 people
    • Afton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Oakdale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oakdale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakdale
      • Oakdale is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,773 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oakdale <1>
  • Pierce County (WI)

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

Cemeteries Near Eureka Center ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Eureka Center.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Eureka Center, with the one closest to Eureka Center 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.<5>

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

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

  • Lakeville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Castle Rock
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castle Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Rock
    • Castle Rock is located in Dakota County
  • Hazelwood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hazelwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazelwood
    • Hazelwood is located in Rice County
  • Farmington
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • New Market
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Market have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Market
    • New Market is located in Scott County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Market <1>
  • Webster
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Waterford
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Northfield
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Credit River
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Credit River have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Credit River
    • Credit River is located in Scott County
  • Randolph
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Hampton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Cedar Lake
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Trondjem
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Dundas
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dundas have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dundas
      • Dundas is located in Rice County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,652 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dundas <1>
    • Millersburg
      (12 miles [19.3 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 Eureka Center. See our List of 1890's Communities around Eureka Center.

Newspapers Published in Eureka Center ...

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 359 newspapers that have been published in the area around Eureka Center.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Eureka Center, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Eureka Center.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start 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 Eureka Center:

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

The official website for Dakota County: www.co.dakota.mn.us/

The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.gov/

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 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.
<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>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 from Point A (ie- Eureka Center) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Eureka Center. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.5874, Longitude: -93.2179    
<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 Eureka Center, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025