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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 McIntosh (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 McIntosh. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

McIntosh 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 McIntosh. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to McIntosh:

  • Polk County     (The home county of McIntosh)
    • The following are listed by their distance from McIntosh, with the one closest to McIntosh listed first.
    • Erskine
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Fosston
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Winger
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Mentor
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Trail
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Trail is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trail
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
    • Lengby
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Lengby is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lengby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
    • Gully
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Gully is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gully
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 66 people
    • Dugdale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Dugdale is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale
    • Fertile
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Melvin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Melvin is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
    • Gentilly
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Gentilly is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly
    • Beltrami
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Beltrami is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
  • Clearwater County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McIntosh, with the one closest to McIntosh listed first.
    • Gonvick
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Clearbrook
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Bagley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • 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>
    • Rice Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Rice Lake is located in Clearwater County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Lake
    • Leonard
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Minerva
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Minerva is located in Clearwater County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minerva
    • Shevlin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Mahnomen County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McIntosh, with the one closest to McIntosh listed first.
    • Bejou
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Mahnomen
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Roy Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Roy Lake is located in Mahnomen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roy Lake
    • Naytahwaush
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Norman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McIntosh, with the one closest to McIntosh listed first.
    • Rindal
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Rindal is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rindal
    • Flaming
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Flaming is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flaming
    • Gary
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Faith
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Faith is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faith
  • Pennington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McIntosh, with the one closest to McIntosh listed first.
    • Erie
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Erie is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
    • Saint Hilaire
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Saint Hilaire is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Hilaire
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 258 people
  • Red Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McIntosh, with the one closest to McIntosh listed first.
    • Brooks
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Brooks is located in Red Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 136 people
    • Oklee
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Plummer
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Plummer is located in Red Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plummer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 289 people
    • Red Lake Falls
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near McIntosh ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of McIntosh.

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

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

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

  • St. Lukes Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Olivet Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Salem Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Gosen Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Landsverk Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Dovre Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • New Sweden Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Synod Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (147 more) ...
    • Asphult Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Bethel Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Kingo Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)

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 in 1895, McIntosh had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, McIntosh had a population of 596 people.

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

  • Erskine
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Fosston
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Winger
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Olga
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Olga is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olga
  • Mentor
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Rindal
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Rindal is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rindal
  • Maple Bay
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Maple Bay is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bay
  • Dugdale
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Dugdale is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale
  • Fertile
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Melvin
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Melvin is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
  • Benoit
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Benoit is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benoit
  • Gary
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Faith
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Faith is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faith
    • Gentilly
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Gentilly is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly
    • Burwell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Burwell is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burwell

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of McIntosh ...

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 McIntosh.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 professional and volunteer 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 McIntosh:

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 McIntosh, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- McIntosh) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.