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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 Gary (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 Gary. 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.

Gary is located in Norman 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 Norman County: Becker, Clay, Mahnomen, Polk, Cass (ND) & Traill (ND).

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

  • Norman County     (The home county of Gary)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gary, with the one closest to Gary listed first.
    • Flaming
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Flaming is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flaming
    • Twin Valley
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Twin Valley is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 750 people
    • Faith
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Faith is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faith
    • Rindal
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Rindal is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rindal
    • Ada
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Ada is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,556 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ada <1>
    • Flom
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Borup
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Borup is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borup
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
    • Halstad
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Hendrum
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Hendrum is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hendrum
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 282 people
    • Shelly
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Shelly is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
    • Perley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Perley is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 83 people
  • Becker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gary, with the one closest to Gary listed first.
    • Ogema
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Ogema is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogema
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 183 people
    • White Earth
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gary, with the one closest to Gary listed first.
    • Ulen
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Felton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Hitterdal
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Hitterdal is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hitterdal
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 213 people
  • Mahnomen County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gary, with the one closest to Gary listed first.
    • Bejou
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Mahnomen
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Waubun
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Naytahwaush
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gary, with the one closest to Gary listed first.
    • Fertile
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Beltrami
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Beltrami is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
    • Winger
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Melvin
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Melvin is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
    • Dugdale
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Dugdale is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale
    • Mentor
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Erskine
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • McIntosh
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Nielsville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Nielsville is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nielsville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
    • Fosston
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Gentilly
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Gentilly is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly
    • Climax
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Climax is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
  • Traill County (ND)

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

Cemeteries Near Gary ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gary.

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

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

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

  • Gary Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • North Wild Rice Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Immanuel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Petri Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Luchau Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Hlubek Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Ness Lutheran Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Sundal Lutheran Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Old Sundal Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • West Wild Rice Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Zion Memorial Gardens
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (144 more) ...
    • St. Williams Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Twin Valley City Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Spring Creek Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)

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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Gary had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Gary had a population of 201 people.

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

  • Heiberg
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Heiberg is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heiberg
  • Twin Valley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Twin Valley is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Valley
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 750 people
  • Faith
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Faith is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faith
  • Fossum
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Fossum is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fossum
  • Rindal
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Rindal is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rindal
  • Fertile
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Ada
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Ada is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,556 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ada <1>
  • Syre
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Syre is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Syre
  • Lockhart
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Lockhart is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockhart
  • Beltrami
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Beltrami is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
  • Winger
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Melvin
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Melvin is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Maple Bay
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Maple Bay is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bay
    • Ulen
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Dugdale
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Dugdale is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale

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

Newspapers Published in Gary ...

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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around Gary.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Gary, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Gary.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Gary:

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>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 Gary, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Gary) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.