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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 Mahnomen (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 Mahnomen. 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 southwest 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 south.

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 south 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.

Mahnomen is located in Mahnomen County and is the County Seat.

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 Mahnomen County: Becker, Clearwater, Norman & Polk.

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

  • Mahnomen County     (The home county of Mahnomen)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mahnomen, with the one closest to Mahnomen listed first.
    • Bejou
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Waubun
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Naytahwaush
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Roy Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Roy Lake is located in Mahnomen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roy Lake
  • Becker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mahnomen, with the one closest to Mahnomen listed first.
    • Ogema
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Ogema is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogema
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 183 people
    • White Earth
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Elbow Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Elbow Lake is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbow Lake
    • Callaway
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Richwood
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Richwood is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwood
    • Lake Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mahnomen, with the one closest to Mahnomen listed first.
    • Ulen
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hitterdal
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Hitterdal is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hitterdal
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 213 people
    • Felton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Clearwater County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mahnomen, with the one closest to Mahnomen listed first.
    • Rice Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Rice Lake is located in Clearwater County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Lake
    • Minerva
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Minerva is located in Clearwater County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minerva
    • Long Lost Lake
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Long Lost Lake is located in Clearwater County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lost Lake
      • Estimated population in 2015: 44 people
    • Bagley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Bagley is located in Clearwater County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bagley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,439 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bagley <1>
  • Norman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mahnomen, with the one closest to Mahnomen listed first.
    • Faith
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Faith is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faith
    • Flom
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Rindal
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Rindal is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rindal
    • Gary
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Twin Valley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Twin Valley is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 750 people
    • Flaming
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Flaming is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flaming
    • Ada
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Ada is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,556 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ada <1>
    • Borup
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Borup is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borup
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mahnomen, with the one closest to Mahnomen listed first.
    • Winger
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Fosston
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Lengby
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Lengby is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lengby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
    • Fertile
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • McIntosh
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Erskine
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Mentor
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Melvin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Melvin is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
    • Beltrami
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Beltrami is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
    • Dugdale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Dugdale is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale

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

Cemeteries Near Mahnomen ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mahnomen.

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 Mahnomen - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • First Lutheran Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • St. Michaels Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • St. Olaf Lutheran Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • St. Anns Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • St. Joseph's Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Bethlehem Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Waubun Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Bejou Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Ness Lutheran Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Waubun Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (150 more) ...
    • Hlubek Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • East Wild Rice Lutheran Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • St. Petri Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)

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

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

  • Faith
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Faith is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faith
  • Fossum
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Fossum is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fossum
  • Twin Valley
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Twin Valley is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Valley
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 750 people
  • Rindal
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Rindal is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rindal
  • Gary
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Heiberg
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Heiberg is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heiberg
  • Winger
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Syre
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Syre is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Syre
  • White Earth
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Fosston
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Ulen
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Fertile
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • McIntosh
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Richwood
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Richwood is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwood
    • Erskine
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Mahnomen ...

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 30 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mahnomen.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Mahnomen. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Mahnomen and those printed in the larger area surrounding Mahnomen.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Mahnomen.

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 Mahnomen:

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 Mahnomen, 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 from Point A (ie- Mahnomen) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.