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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 Mapleton (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 Mapleton. 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 and doctors 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.

Mapleton is located in Blue Earth 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 Blue Earth County: Brown, Faribault, Le Sueur, Martin, Nicollet, Waseca & Watonwan.

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

  • Blue Earth County     (The home county of Mapleton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mapleton, with the one closest to Mapleton listed first.
    • Beauford
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Good Thunder
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Pemberton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Pemberton is located in Blue Earth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pemberton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 241 people
    • Amboy
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Vernon Center
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Vernon Center is located in Blue Earth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon Center
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 313 people
    • Saint Clair
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Rapidan
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Garden City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Skyline
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Skyline is located in Blue Earth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyline
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
    • Willow Creek
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Eagle Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Mankato
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Mankato is located in Blue Earth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mankato
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 43,435 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mankato <1>
  • Brown County
    • Hanska
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Faribault County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mapleton, with the one closest to Mapleton listed first.
    • Minnesota Lake
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Delavan
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Delavan is located in Faribault County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delavan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 166 people
    • Easton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Easton is located in Faribault County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 183 people
    • Winnebago
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Wells
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Wells is located in Faribault County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wells
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,157 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wells <1>
    • Huntley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Blue Earth
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Dell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Frost
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Frost is located in Faribault County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frost
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Frost <1>
    • Bricelyn
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Bricelyn is located in Faribault County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bricelyn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 334 people
    • Walters
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Walters is located in Faribault County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walters
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
    • Elmore
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Elmore is located in Faribault County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmore
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 613 people
  • Freeborn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mapleton, with the one closest to Mapleton listed first.
    • Freeborn
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Hartland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Hartland is located in Freeborn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 307 people
    • Alden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Manchester
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Manchester is located in Freeborn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manchester
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
    • Bath
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Conger
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Conger is located in Freeborn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conger
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
  • Le Sueur County
  • Martin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mapleton, with the one closest to Mapleton listed first.
    • Truman
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Truman is located in Martin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Truman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,028 people
    • Granada
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Northrop
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Nicollet County
  • Waseca County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mapleton, with the one closest to Mapleton listed first.
    • Waldorf
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Waldorf is located in Waseca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldorf
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 224 people
    • Alma City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Janesville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Wilton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Wilton is located in Waseca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilton
    • New Richland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Elysian
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Vista
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Waseca
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Palmer
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Watonwan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mapleton, with the one closest to Mapleton listed first.
    • Lewisville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Lewisville is located in Watonwan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 244 people
    • Madelia
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Grogan
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Winnebago County (IA)
    • Rake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Rake is located in Winnebago County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people

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

Cemeteries Near Mapleton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mapleton.

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

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

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

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Mapleton had a population of 607 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Mapleton had a population of 1,682 people.

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

  • Beauford
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Sterling Center
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Sterling Center is located in Blue Earth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling Center
  • Good Thunder
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Minnesota Lake
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Amboy
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Vernon Center
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Vernon Center is located in Blue Earth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon Center
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 313 people
  • Delavan
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Delavan is located in Faribault County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delavan
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 166 people
  • Easton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Easton is located in Faribault County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 183 people
  • Saint Clair
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Rapidan
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Alma City
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Garden City
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Mapleton ...

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 153 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mapleton.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 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 Mapleton:

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