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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 Kerkhoven (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 Kerkhoven. 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 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.

Kerkhoven is located in Swift 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 Swift County: Big Stone, Chippewa, Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, Pope & Stevens.

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

  • Swift County     (The home county of Kerkhoven)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kerkhoven, with the one closest to Kerkhoven listed first.
    • Murdock
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murdock
      • Murdock is located in Swift County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
    • De Graff
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for De Graff have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Graff
      • De Graff is located in Swift County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
    • Swift Falls
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Swift Falls. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift Falls
      • Swift Falls is located in Swift County
    • Benson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Clontarf
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clontarf have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clontarf
      • Clontarf is located in Swift County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 158 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clontarf <3>
    • Danvers
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Danvers have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danvers
      • Danvers is located in Swift County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 89 people
    • Holloway
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holloway have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holloway
      • Holloway is located in Swift County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people
  • Chippewa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kerkhoven, with the one closest to Kerkhoven listed first.
    • Clara City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clara City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clara City
      • Clara City is located in Chippewa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,273 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clara City <3>
    • Maynard
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maynard have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maynard
      • Maynard is located in Chippewa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 344 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maynard <3>
    • Big Bend City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Bend City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend City
      • Big Bend City is located in Chippewa County
    • Montevideo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Watson
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Watson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watson
      • Watson is located in Chippewa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 192 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Watson <3>
    • Milan
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Kandiyohi County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kerkhoven, with the one closest to Kerkhoven listed first.
    • Pennock
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pennock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennock
      • Pennock is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 509 people
    • Sunburg
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunburg
      • Sunburg is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
    • Raymond
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Raymond have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
      • Raymond is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 759 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Raymond <3>
    • Willmar
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Wilmar
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmar
      • Wilmar is located in Kandiyohi County
    • Spicer
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spicer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spicer
      • Spicer is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,224 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spicer <3>
    • Prinsburg
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prinsburg
      • Prinsburg is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 497 people
    • Kandiyohi
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kandiyohi have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kandiyohi
      • Kandiyohi is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 477 people
    • New London
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Svea
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Svea
      • Svea is located in Kandiyohi County
    • Roseland
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
      • Roseland is located in Kandiyohi County
    • Blomkest
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blomkest have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blomkest
      • Blomkest is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 157 people
  • Pope County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kerkhoven, with the one closest to Kerkhoven listed first.
    • Sedan
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sedan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sedan
      • Sedan is located in Pope County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 50 people
    • Grove Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Grove Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Lake
      • Grove Lake is located in Pope County
    • Starbuck
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Renville County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kerkhoven, with the one closest to Kerkhoven listed first.
    • Renville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Sacred Heart
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Danube
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Danube have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danube
      • Danube is located in Renville County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 451 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Danube <3>
  • Stearns County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kerkhoven, with the one closest to Kerkhoven listed first.
    • Belgrade
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belgrade have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belgrade
      • Belgrade is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 787 people
    • Brooten
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brooten have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooten
      • Brooten is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 750 people
  • Yellow Medicine County
    • Granite Falls
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Kerkhoven ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Kerkhoven.

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

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

  • Hillside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Salem Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Salem Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Salem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Bethesda Lutheran Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethesda Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethesda Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillcrest Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillcrest Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillcrest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Buffalo Lake Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Buffalo Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Buffalo Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mamrelund Lutheran Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mamrelund Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mamrelund Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Salem Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Salem Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Salem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Lake Lutheran Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Lake Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Lake Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Monson Lake Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Monson Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Monson Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Bridget Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Bridget Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Bridget Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (177 more) ...
    • Frank Lake Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Frank Lake Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Frank Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Louriston Twp. Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Louriston Twp. Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Louriston Twp. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Swedish Lutheran Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Swedish Lutheran Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Swedish Lutheran 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Kerkhoven had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Kerkhoven had a population of 696 people.

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

  • Murdock
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murdock
    • Murdock is located in Swift County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
  • De Graff
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for De Graff have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Graff
    • De Graff is located in Swift County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
  • Louriston
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Louriston have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louriston
    • Louriston is located in Chippewa County
  • Norway Lake
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norway Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norway Lake
    • Norway Lake is located in Kandiyohi County
  • Sunburg
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunburg
    • Sunburg is located in Kandiyohi County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
  • Raymond
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Raymond have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
    • Raymond is located in Kandiyohi County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 759 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Raymond <3>
  • Willmar
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Swift Falls
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Swift Falls. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift Falls
    • Swift Falls is located in Swift County
  • Clara City
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clara City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clara City
    • Clara City is located in Chippewa County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,273 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clara City <3>
  • Benson
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Prinsburg
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prinsburg
    • Prinsburg is located in Kandiyohi County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 497 people
  • Spicer
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spicer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spicer
    • Spicer is located in Kandiyohi County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,224 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spicer <3>
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Svea
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Svea
      • Svea is located in Kandiyohi County
    • New London
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Roseland
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
      • Roseland is located in Kandiyohi County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Kerkhoven ...

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 94 newspapers that have been published in the area around Kerkhoven.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Kerkhoven. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Kerkhoven and those printed in the larger area surrounding Kerkhoven.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6> of Kerkhoven.

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 helpful 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 Kerkhoven:

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

The official website for Swift County: www.swiftcounty.com/

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>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<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 Kerkhoven, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Kerkhoven) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Kerkhoven. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.1923, Longitude: -95.3200       In this case, the coordinates for Kerkhoven have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025