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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 Mentor (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 Mentor. 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 doctors and hospitals 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.

Mentor is located in Polk 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 Polk County: Clearwater, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Red Lake, Grand Forks (ND) & Traill (ND).

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

  • Polk County     (The home county of Mentor)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mentor, with the one closest to Mentor listed first.
    • Dugdale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale
      • Dugdale is located in Polk County
    • Erskine
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Erskine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erskine
      • Erskine is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 467 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Erskine <2>
    • McIntosh
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McIntosh have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntosh
      • McIntosh is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 596 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McIntosh <2>
    • Fertile
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Melvin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
      • Melvin is located in Polk County
    • Winger
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winger have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winger
      • Winger is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 208 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winger <2>
    • Gentilly
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly
      • Gentilly is located in Polk County
    • Fosston
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fosston have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fosston
      • Fosston is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,442 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fosston <2>
    • Beltrami
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beltrami have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
      • Beltrami is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
    • Trail
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trail have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trail
      • Trail is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
    • Crookston
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Gully
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gully have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gully
      • Gully is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 66 people
  • Clearwater County
    • Gonvick
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gonvick have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gonvick
      • Gonvick is located in Clearwater County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 285 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gonvick <2>
  • Mahnomen County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mentor, with the one closest to Mentor listed first.
    • Bejou
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bejou have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bejou
      • Bejou is located in Mahnomen County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 90 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bejou <2>
    • Mahnomen
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mahnomen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mahnomen
      • Mahnomen is located in Mahnomen County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,220 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mahnomen <2>
  • Norman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mentor, with the one closest to Mentor listed first.
    • Rindal
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rindal have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rindal
      • Rindal is located in Norman County
    • Flaming
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flaming have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flaming
      • Flaming is located in Norman County
    • Gary
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gary have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary
      • Gary is located in Norman County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 201 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gary <2>
    • Faith
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faith
      • Faith is located in Norman County
    • Twin Valley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Valley
      • Twin Valley is located in Norman County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 750 people
  • Pennington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mentor, with the one closest to Mentor listed first.
    • Saint Hilaire
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Hilaire have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Hilaire
      • Saint Hilaire is located in Pennington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 258 people
    • Thief River Falls
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thief River Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thief River Falls
      • Thief River Falls is located in Pennington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,688 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thief River Falls <2>
  • Red Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mentor, with the one closest to Mentor listed first.
    • Brooks
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brooks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks
      • Brooks is located in Red Lake County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 136 people
    • Red Lake Falls
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Red Lake Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Lake Falls
      • Red Lake Falls is located in Red Lake County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,409 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Red Lake Falls <2>
    • Plummer
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plummer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plummer
      • Plummer is located in Red Lake County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 289 people
    • Oklee
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oklee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oklee
      • Oklee is located in Red Lake County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 428 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oklee <2>
    • Dorothy
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dorothy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorothy
      • Dorothy is located in Red Lake County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Mentor ...

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 Mentor.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 Mentor:

Cemeteries Near Mentor ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mentor.

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

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

  • First English Lutheran Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the First English Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the First English Lutheran Cemetery
  • St. Lawrence Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Lawrence Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Lawrence Cemetery
  • Faith Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Faith Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Faith Cemetery
  • Lakeside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakeside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeside Cemetery
  • Rosehill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rosehill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rosehill Cemetery
  • Hitterdal Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hitterdal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hitterdal Cemetery
  • Rodnes Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rodnes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rodnes Cemetery
  • Broderheim Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Broderheim Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Broderheim Cemetery
  • Sorum Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sorum Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sorum Cemetery
  • Maple Bay Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Bay Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Bay Cemetery
  • Maple Bay Free Lutheran Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Bay Free Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Bay Free Lutheran Cemetery
  • Maple Lake Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Lake Cemetery
  • Continue List   (152 more) ...
    • Bailey Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bailey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bailey Cemetery
    • Saron Lutheran Church Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Fairview Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Mentor had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Mentor had a population of 147 people.

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

  • Maple Bay
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Bay have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bay
    • Maple Bay is located in Polk County
  • Dugdale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale
    • Dugdale is located in Polk County
  • Erskine
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Erskine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erskine
    • Erskine is located in Polk County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 467 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Erskine <2>
  • Benoit
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Benoit have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benoit
    • Benoit is located in Polk County
  • Melvin
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
    • Melvin is located in Polk County
  • Fertile
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • McIntosh
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McIntosh have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntosh
    • McIntosh is located in Polk County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 596 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McIntosh <2>
  • Rindal
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rindal have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rindal
    • Rindal is located in Norman County
  • Winger
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winger have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winger
    • Winger is located in Polk County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 208 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winger <2>
  • Gentilly
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly
    • Gentilly is located in Polk County
  • Burwell
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burwell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burwell
    • Burwell is located in Polk County
  • Fosston
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fosston have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fosston
    • Fosston is located in Polk County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,442 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fosston <2>
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Beltrami
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beltrami have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
      • Beltrami is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
    • Olga
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olga have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olga
      • Olga is located in Polk County
    • Crookston
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)

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

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

The official website for Polk County: www.co.polk.mn.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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- Mentor) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Mentor. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.6965, Longitude: -96.1441       In this case, the coordinates for Mentor have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<5>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 Mentor, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024