RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Minnesota >> Otter Tail County >> Leaf City >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Leaf City (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 Leaf City. 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 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.

Leaf City is located in Otter Tail 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 Otter Tail County: Becker, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Todd, Wadena & Wilkin.

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

  • Otter Tail County     (The home county of Leaf City)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Leaf City, with the one closest to Leaf City listed first.
    • Ottertail
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Henning
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Deer Creek
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Deer Creek is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 321 people
    • New York Mills
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Richville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Vining
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Nirvana
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Nirvana is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nirvana
    • Bluffton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Bluffton is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluffton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
    • Clitherall
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Amor
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
    • Perham
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Perham is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,638 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perham <1>
    • Battle Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Davies
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Davies is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davies
  • Becker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Leaf City, with the one closest to Leaf City listed first.
    • Evergreen
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Evergreen is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
    • Frazee
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Wolf Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Wolf Lake is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
    • Bucks Mill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Bucks Mill is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Mill
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Leaf City, with the one closest to Leaf City listed first.
    • Millerville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Millerville is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
    • Miltona
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Rose City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Rose City is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose City
    • Melby
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Melby is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melby
    • Evansville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Belle River
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Belle River is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle River
  • Grant County
    • Ashby
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Todd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Leaf City, with the one closest to Leaf City listed first.
    • Hewitt
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Hewitt is located in Todd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hewitt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
    • Bertha
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Eagle Bend
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Wadena County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Leaf City, with the one closest to Leaf City listed first.
    • Verndale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Sebeka
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Aldrich
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Aldrich is located in Wadena County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aldrich
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
    • Menahga
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Leaf City ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Leaf City.

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 Leaf City - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Leaf Lake Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Leaf Lake Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Leaf Lake Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • St. John's Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Prairie Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Grace Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Henning Ttwp. Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Norwegian Methodist Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Salem EUB Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Henning Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (199 more) ...
    • Woodland Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Otter Tail Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Girard Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 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 Leaf City in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Leaf City.

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

  • Ottertail
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Henning
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Deer Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Deer Creek is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 321 people
  • New York Mills
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Vining
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Bluffton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Bluffton is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluffton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
  • Clitherall
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Amor
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
  • Battle Lake
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Perham
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Perham is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perham
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,638 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perham <1>
  • Wadena
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Wadena is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wadena
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,121 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wadena <1>
  • Davies
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Davies is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davies
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Wrightstown
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Wrightstown is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrightstown
    • Maine
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Maine is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
    • Phelps
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Phelps is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps

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

Newspapers Published in Leaf City ...

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 26 newspapers that have been published in the area around Leaf City.

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

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 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 Leaf City:

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