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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 Harold (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 Harold. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

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

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

  • Polk County     (The home county of Harold)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harold, with the one closest to Harold listed first.
    • Gentilly
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Gentilly is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly
    • Crookston
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Melvin
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Melvin is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
    • Dugdale
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Dugdale is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale
    • Beltrami
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Beltrami is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
    • Shirley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Shirley is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
    • Fisher
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Fisher is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
    • Fertile
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Mentor
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Climax
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Climax is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
    • Euclid
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Euclid is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euclid
    • Nielsville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Nielsville is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nielsville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
    • Erskine
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
  • Mahnomen County
    • Bejou
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Norman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harold, with the one closest to Harold listed first.
    • Flaming
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Flaming is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flaming
    • Rindal
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Rindal is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rindal
    • Shelly
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Shelly is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
    • Gary
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Ada
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • 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>
    • Halstad
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Pennington County
    • Saint Hilaire
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Saint Hilaire is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Hilaire
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 258 people
  • Red Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harold, with the one closest to Harold listed first.
    • Dorothy
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Dorothy is located in Red Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorothy
    • Red Lake Falls
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Brooks
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Brooks is located in Red Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 136 people
    • Plummer
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Plummer is located in Red Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plummer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 289 people
  • Grand Forks County (ND)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harold, with the one closest to Harold listed first.
    • Reynolds
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Reynolds is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynolds
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Reynolds <1>
    • Thompson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Thompson is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,027 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thompson <1>
    • Grand Forks
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Traill County (ND)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harold, with the one closest to Harold listed first.
    • Caledonia
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Buxton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Buxton is located in Traill County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buxton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 316 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buxton <1>
    • Cummings
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Harold ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Harold.

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

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

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

  • Hafslo Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • St. Peters Catholic Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • St. Peters Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Andover Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Hanna Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Oakdale Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Zion Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Union Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Lone Star Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Varnes Lutheran Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (139 more) ...
    • Our Saviors Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Fairview Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Scott - Widrig Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)

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>

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

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

  • Burwell
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Burwell is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burwell
  • Benoit
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Benoit is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benoit
  • Gentilly
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Gentilly is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly
  • Melvin
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Melvin is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
  • Crookston
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Dugdale
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Dugdale is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale
  • Beltrami
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Beltrami is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
  • Hixon
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hixon is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hixon
  • Shirley
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Shirley is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
  • Maple Bay
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Maple Bay is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bay
  • Freeman
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Freeman is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
  • Fertile
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Fisher
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Fisher is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
    • Mentor
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Lockhart
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Lockhart is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockhart

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

Newspapers Published in Harold ...

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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around Harold.

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

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 professional and volunteer 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 Harold:

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