RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Minnesota >> Polk County >> Key West >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Minnesota

The Commemorative Quarter for Minnesota





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 Key West (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 Key West. 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 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 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.

Key West 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 Key West. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Key West:

  • Polk County     (The home county of Key West)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Key West, with the one closest to Key West listed first.
    • Euclid
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euclid
      • Euclid is located in Polk County
    • Mallory
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mallory have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallory
      • Mallory is located in Polk County
    • Fisher
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fisher have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
      • Fisher is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
    • East Grand Forks
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Crookston
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Gentilly
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly
      • Gentilly is located in Polk County
    • Climax
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Climax have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
      • Climax is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
    • Nielsville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nielsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nielsville
      • Nielsville is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
    • Dugdale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale
      • Dugdale is located in Polk County
    • Melvin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
      • Melvin is located in Polk County
    • Beltrami
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beltrami have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
      • Beltrami is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Key West, with the one closest to Key West listed first.
    • Warren
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Alvarado
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alvarado have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alvarado
      • Alvarado is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 362 people
    • Oslo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oslo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oslo
      • Oslo is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 323 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oslo <2>
    • Viking
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viking
      • Viking is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 96 people
    • Argyle
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Big Woods
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Woods
      • Big Woods is located in Marshall County
  • Pennington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Key West, with the one closest to Key West listed first.
    • Saint Hilaire
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Hilaire have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Hilaire
      • Saint Hilaire is located in Pennington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 258 people
    • Thief River Falls
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thief River Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thief River Falls
      • Thief River Falls is located in Pennington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,688 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thief River Falls <2>
  • Red Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Key West, with the one closest to Key West listed first.
    • Dorothy
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dorothy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorothy
      • Dorothy is located in Red Lake County
    • Red Lake Falls
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Red Lake Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Lake Falls
      • Red Lake Falls is located in Red Lake County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,409 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Red Lake Falls <2>
  • Grand Forks County (ND)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Key West, with the one closest to Key West listed first.
    • Grand Forks
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Thompson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thompson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson
      • Thompson is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,027 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thompson <2>
    • Manvel
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manvel have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manvel
      • Manvel is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 372 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manvel <2>
    • Reynolds
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reynolds have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynolds
      • Reynolds is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Reynolds <2>
    • Emerado
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emerado have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerado
      • Emerado is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 461 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Emerado <2>
    • Mekinock
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Holmes
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holmes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes
      • Holmes is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
  • Traill County (ND)
    • Buxton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buxton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buxton
      • Buxton is located in Traill County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 316 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buxton <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Key West ...

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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Key West.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Key West, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Key West.

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 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 Key West:

Cemeteries Near Key West ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Key West.

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

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

  • Nesbit Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nesbit Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nesbit Cemetery
  • St. Pauls Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Pauls Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Pauls Cemetery
  • Resthaven Memorial Gardens
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Resthaven Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Resthaven Memorial Gardens
  • Prairie View Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prairie View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prairie View Cemetery
  • Holy Trinity Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Trinity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Trinity Cemetery
  • Fisher Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fisher Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fisher Cemetery
  • Fisher Lutheran Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fisher Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fisher Lutheran Cemetery
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwood Cemetery
  • Bygland Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bygland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bygland Cemetery
  • Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery
  • Presbyterian Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Presbyterian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Presbyterian Cemetery
  • Tabor Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tabor Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tabor Cemetery
  • Continue List   (97 more) ...
    • Erickson Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Erickson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Erickson Cemetery
    • Sunset Memorial Gardens
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunset Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunset Memorial Gardens
    • Pioneer Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery

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>

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

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

  • Mallory
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mallory have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallory
    • Mallory is located in Polk County
  • Euclid
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euclid
    • Euclid is located in Polk County
  • Freeman
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
    • Freeman is located in Polk County
  • Fisher
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fisher have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
    • Fisher is located in Polk County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
  • Hixon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hixon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hixon
    • Hixon is located in Polk County
  • Shirley
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shirley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
    • Shirley is located in Polk County
  • Tabor
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tabor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabor
    • Tabor is located in Polk County
  • Angus
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Angus have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angus
    • Angus is located in Polk County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Angus <2>
  • East Grand Forks
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Crookston
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Grand Forks
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Merrifield
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Merrifield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrifield
    • Merrifield is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Thompson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thompson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson
      • Thompson is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,027 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thompson <2>
    • Burwell
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burwell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burwell
      • Burwell is located in Polk County
    • Gentilly
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly
      • Gentilly is located in Polk County

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

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

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Key West) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Key West. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.9347, Longitude: -96.7834       In this case, the coordinates for Key West have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Key West, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024