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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 Fosston (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 Fosston. 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 northwest 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 north.

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 north 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.

Fosston is located in Polk 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 Polk County: Clearwater, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Red Lake, Grand Forks (ND) & Traill (ND).

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

  • Polk County     (The home county of Fosston)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fosston, with the one closest to Fosston listed first.
    • Lengby
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lengby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lengby
      • Lengby is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
    • McIntosh
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McIntosh have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntosh
      • McIntosh is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 596 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McIntosh <2>
    • Winger
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winger have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winger
      • Winger is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 208 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winger <2>
    • Erskine
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Trail
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trail have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trail
      • Trail is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
    • Gully
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gully have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gully
      • Gully is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 66 people
    • Mentor
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mentor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mentor
      • Mentor is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mentor <2>
    • Dugdale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Fertile
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Melvin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Beltrami County
  • Clearwater County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fosston, with the one closest to Fosston listed first.
    • Gonvick
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gonvick have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gonvick
      • Gonvick is located in Clearwater County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 285 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gonvick <2>
    • Bagley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bagley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bagley
      • Bagley is located in Clearwater County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,439 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bagley <2>
    • Clearbrook
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clearbrook have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearbrook
      • Clearbrook is located in Clearwater County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 535 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clearbrook <2>
    • Rice Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rice Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Lake
      • Rice Lake is located in Clearwater County
    • Leonard
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leonard have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leonard
      • Leonard is located in Clearwater County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 44 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leonard <2>
    • Shevlin
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shevlin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shevlin
      • Shevlin is located in Clearwater County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shevlin <2>
    • Minerva
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Mahnomen County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fosston, with the one closest to Fosston listed first.
    • Bejou
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bejou have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bejou
      • Bejou is located in Mahnomen County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 90 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bejou <2>
    • Roy Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Mahnomen
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mahnomen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mahnomen
      • Mahnomen is located in Mahnomen County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,220 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mahnomen <2>
    • Naytahwaush
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Naytahwaush have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naytahwaush
      • Naytahwaush is located in Mahnomen County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Naytahwaush <2>
    • Waubun
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waubun have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waubun
      • Waubun is located in Mahnomen County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 401 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Waubun <2>
  • Norman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fosston, with the one closest to Fosston listed first.
    • Rindal
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rindal. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rindal
      • Rindal is located in Norman County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rindal
      • From Fosston to Rindal
    • Faith
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Flaming
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Flaming. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flaming
      • Flaming is located in Norman County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Flaming
      • From Fosston to Flaming
    • Gary
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gary have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary
      • Gary is located in Norman County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 201 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gary <2>
  • Red Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fosston, with the one closest to Fosston listed first.
    • Oklee
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oklee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oklee
      • Oklee is located in Red Lake County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 428 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oklee <2>
    • Brooks
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brooks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks
      • Brooks is located in Red Lake County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 136 people
    • Plummer
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plummer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plummer
      • Plummer is located in Red Lake County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 289 people

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

Cemeteries Near Fosston ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fosston.

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

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

  • Rosehill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rosehill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rosehill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kingo Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kingo Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kingo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Landstad Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Landstad Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Landstad Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Poplar River Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Poplar River Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Poplar River Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hansville Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hansville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hansville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Poplar Lake Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Poplar Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Poplar Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Froen Lutheran Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Froen Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Froen Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Landsverk Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Landsverk Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Landsverk Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cross Lake Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cross Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cross Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Immanuel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Immanuel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Immanuel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Paul's Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Paul's Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Paul's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cross Lake Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cross Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cross Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (146 more) ...
    • Queen Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Queen Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Queen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Olivet Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Olivet Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Olivet Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Lukes Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Lukes Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Lukes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Fosston had a population of 207 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Fosston had a population of 1,442 people.

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

  • McIntosh
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McIntosh have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntosh
    • McIntosh is located in Polk County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 596 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McIntosh <2>
  • Olga
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olga have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olga
    • Olga is located in Polk County
  • Winger
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winger have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winger
    • Winger is located in Polk County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 208 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winger <2>
  • Erskine
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Rindal
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rindal. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rindal
    • Rindal is located in Norman County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Rindal
    • From Fosston to Rindal
  • Mentor
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mentor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mentor
    • Mentor is located in Polk County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mentor <2>
  • Maple Bay
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Bay have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bay
    • Maple Bay is located in Polk County
  • Faith
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Dugdale
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Fertile
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Gary
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gary have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary
    • Gary is located in Norman County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 201 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gary <2>
  • Melvin
    (29 miles [46.7 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 Fosston. See our List of 1890's Communities around Fosston.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Fosston ...

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 28 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fosston.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Fosston. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Fosston and those printed in the larger area surrounding Fosston.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5> of Fosston.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Fosston:

The official website for Fosston: www.fosston.com/

The official website for Polk County: www.co.polk.mn.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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 Fosston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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- Fosston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fosston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.5780, Longitude: -95.7475    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025