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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 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 northeast 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 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.

Key West 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 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)
      • Euclid is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euclid
    • Mallory
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Mallory is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallory
    • Fisher
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Fisher is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
    • Shirley
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Shirley is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
    • 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)
      • Gentilly is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly
    • Climax
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Climax is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
    • Nielsville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Nielsville is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nielsville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
    • Dugdale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Dugdale is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale
    • Melvin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Melvin is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
    • Beltrami
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Beltrami is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
      • 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)
      • Alvarado is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alvarado
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 362 people
    • Oslo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Oslo is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oslo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 323 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oslo <1>
    • Viking
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Viking is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viking
      • 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)
      • Big Woods is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Woods
  • 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)
      • Saint Hilaire is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Hilaire
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 258 people
    • Thief River Falls
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • 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)
      • Dorothy is located in Red Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorothy
    • Red Lake Falls
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • 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)
      • 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>
    • Manvel
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Manvel is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manvel
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 372 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manvel <1>
    • Kelly
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Kelly is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
    • Reynolds
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • 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>
    • Emerado
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Emerado is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerado
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 461 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Emerado <1>
    • Mekinock
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Holmes
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Holmes is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes
  • Traill County (ND)
    • Buxton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • 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>

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

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 Key West - one of the links might be able to help.

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)
  • St. Pauls Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Resthaven Memorial Gardens
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Prairie View Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Holy Trinity Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Fisher Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Fisher Lutheran Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Bygland Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Presbyterian Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Tabor Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (97 more) ...
    • Erickson Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Sunset Memorial Gardens
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Pioneer Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)

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 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)
    • Mallory is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallory
  • Euclid
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Euclid is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euclid
  • Freeman
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Freeman is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
  • Fisher
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Fisher is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
  • Hixon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Hixon is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hixon
  • Shirley
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Shirley is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
  • Tabor
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Tabor is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabor
  • Angus
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • 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)
    • Merrifield is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrifield
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Thompson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • 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>
    • Burwell
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Burwell is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burwell
    • Gentilly
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Gentilly is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly

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.

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 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 Key West:

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 Key West, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Key West) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.