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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 Lancaster (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 Lancaster. 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.

Lancaster is located in Kittson 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 Kittson County: Marshall, Roseau, Pembina (ND) & Walsh (ND).

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

  • Kittson County     (The home county of Lancaster)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster listed first.
    • Hallock
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Lake Bronson
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Humboldt
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humboldt
      • Humboldt is located in Kittson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
    • Kennedy
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kennedy have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedy
      • Kennedy is located in Kittson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 182 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kennedy <1>
    • Halma
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Halma have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halma
      • Halma is located in Kittson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 60 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Halma <1>
    • Mattson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mattson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mattson
      • Mattson is located in Kittson County
    • Donaldson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Donaldson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donaldson
      • Donaldson is located in Kittson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 39 people
    • Noyes
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Noyes have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noyes
      • Noyes is located in Kittson County
    • Saint Vincent
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Vincent have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Vincent
      • Saint Vincent is located in Kittson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 60 people
    • Deerwood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deerwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerwood
      • Deerwood is located in Kittson County
    • Karlstad
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Karlstad have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Karlstad
      • Karlstad is located in Kittson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 706 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Karlstad <1>
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster listed first.
    • Englund
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Englund. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englund
      • Englund is located in Marshall County
    • Stephen
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stephen have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stephen
      • Stephen is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 645 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stephen <1>
    • Strandquist
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Strandquist have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strandquist
      • Strandquist is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 68 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Strandquist <1>
  • Roseau County
    • Greenbush
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenbush have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbush
      • Greenbush is located in Roseau County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 696 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenbush <1>
  • Pembina County (ND)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster listed first.
    • Joliette
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joliette
      • Joliette is located in Pembina County (ND)
    • McArthur
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McArthur
      • McArthur is located in Pembina County (ND)
    • Bowesmont
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowesmont
      • Bowesmont is located in Pembina County (ND)
    • Huron City ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huron City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron City
      • Huron City is located in Pembina County (ND)
    • Pembina
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pembina have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pembina
      • Pembina is located in Pembina County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 533 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pembina <1>
    • Pittsburgh
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsburgh
      • Pittsburgh is located in Pembina County (ND)
    • Drayton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drayton
      • Drayton is located in Pembina County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 728 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Drayton <1>
    • Hamilton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hamilton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamilton
      • Hamilton is located in Pembina County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hamilton <1>
    • Bathgate
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Walsh County (ND)
    • Herrick
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Lancaster ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lancaster.

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

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

  • Riverview Memorial Gardens
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverview Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverview Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sikar Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sikar Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sikar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Saron Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Saron Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Saron Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Union Liberty Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Liberty Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Liberty Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethlehem Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethlehem Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethlehem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Holy Rosary Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Rosary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Rosary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Two Rivers Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Two Rivers Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Two Rivers Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Swanson Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Swanson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Swanson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Morrison Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Morrison Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Morrison Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak View Catholic Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak View Catholic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak View Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Tom Lako Farm Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tom Lako Farm Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tom Lako Farm Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (88 more) ...
    • Riverside Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverside Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • McKinley Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McKinley Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McKinley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Overstoneville Baptist Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)

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 Lancaster in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Lancaster.

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

  • Hallock
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Northcote
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Northcote have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northcote
    • Northcote is located in Kittson County
  • Humboldt
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humboldt
    • Humboldt is located in Kittson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
  • Kennedy
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kennedy have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedy
    • Kennedy is located in Kittson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 182 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kennedy <1>
  • Mattson
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mattson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mattson
    • Mattson is located in Kittson County
  • Donaldson
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Donaldson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donaldson
    • Donaldson is located in Kittson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 39 people
  • Joliette
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joliette
    • Joliette is located in Pembina County (ND)
  • Bowesmont
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowesmont
    • Bowesmont is located in Pembina County (ND)
  • Saint Vincent
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Vincent have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Vincent
    • Saint Vincent is located in Kittson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 60 people
  • Pembina
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pembina have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pembina
    • Pembina is located in Pembina County (ND)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 533 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pembina <1>
  • Pittsburgh
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsburgh
    • Pittsburgh is located in Pembina County (ND)
  • Pelan
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pelan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelan
    • Pelan is located in Kittson County
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Drayton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drayton
      • Drayton is located in Pembina County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 728 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Drayton <1>
    • Englund
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Englund. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englund
      • Englund is located in Marshall County
    • Stephen
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stephen have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stephen
      • Stephen is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 645 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stephen <1>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Lancaster ...

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 34 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lancaster.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Lancaster. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Lancaster and those printed in the larger area surrounding Lancaster.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5> of Lancaster.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Lancaster:

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

The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.gov/

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>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.
<3>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.
<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 Lancaster, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Lancaster) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lancaster. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.8576, Longitude: -96.8018       In this case, the coordinates for Lancaster have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025