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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 Forada (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 Forada. 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 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.

Forada is located in Douglas 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 Douglas County: Grant, Otter Tail, Pope, Stearns, Stevens & Todd.

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

  • Douglas County     (The home county of Forada)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forada, with the one closest to Forada listed first.
    • Alexandria
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Nelson
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Nelson is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 192 people
    • Holmes City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Holmes City is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes City
    • Osakis
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Garfield
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Carlos
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Belle River
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Belle River is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle River
    • Brandon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Kensington
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Miltona
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Evansville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Millerville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Millerville is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
  • Grant County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forada, with the one closest to Forada listed first.
    • Hoffman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Erdahl
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Erdahl is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erdahl
    • Barrett
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Barrett is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrett
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 414 people
    • Thorsborg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Thorsborg is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorsborg
    • Ashby
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Kandiyohi County
    • Sunburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Sunburg is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
  • Otter Tail County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forada, with the one closest to Forada listed first.
    • Urbank
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Urbank is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urbank
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 52 people
    • Parkers Prairie
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
  • Pope County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forada, with the one closest to Forada listed first.
    • Villard
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Glenwood
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Long Beach
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Long Beach is located in Pope County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Beach
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 417 people
    • Lowry
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Westport
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Westport is located in Pope County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westport
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 61 people
    • Farwell
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Farwell is located in Pope County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farwell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 52 people
    • Starbuck
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Sedan
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Sedan is located in Pope County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sedan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 50 people
    • Grove Lake
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Grove Lake is located in Pope County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Lake
    • New Prairie ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • New Prairie is located in Pope County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Prairie
    • Cyrus
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Stearns County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forada, with the one closest to Forada listed first.
    • Sauk Centre
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Brooten
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Brooten is located in Stearns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooten
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 750 people
    • Elrosa
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Meire Grove
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Meire Grove is located in Stearns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meire Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
    • Melrose
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Greenwald
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Belgrade
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Belgrade is located in Stearns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belgrade
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 787 people
  • Stevens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forada, with the one closest to Forada listed first.
    • Hancock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Morris
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Swift County
    • Swift Falls
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Swift Falls is located in Swift County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift Falls
  • Todd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forada, with the one closest to Forada listed first.
    • West Union
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • West Union is located in Todd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Union
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
    • Clotho
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Clotho is located in Todd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clotho
    • Long Prairie
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Grey Eagle
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Clarissa
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Eagle Bend
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Forada ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Forada.

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

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

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

  • Hudson Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Lake Mary Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Bohemian Independent Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Lake Leven Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. John's Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Lake Reno Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Kinkead Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinkead Cemetery
    • The Kinkead Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Kinkaid Cemetery
    • Sunset Memorial Park
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #82630 <2>
  • Lake Ann Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (176 more) ...
    • Lake Amelia Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Nelson Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Christian Union Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)

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

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

  • Villard
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Alexandria
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Nelson
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Nelson is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 192 people
  • Lowry
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Glenwood
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Holmes City
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Holmes City is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes City
  • Westport
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Westport is located in Pope County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westport
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 61 people
  • Osakis
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Farwell
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Farwell is located in Pope County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farwell
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 52 people
  • Garfield
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • West Union
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • West Union is located in Todd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Union
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
  • Starbuck
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Grove Lake
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Grove Lake is located in Pope County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Lake
    • Belle River
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Belle River is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle River
    • Brandon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Forada ...

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 82 newspapers that have been published in the area around Forada.

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

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 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 Forada:

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 Forada, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Forada) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.