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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 Meriden (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 Meriden. 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.

Meriden is located in Steele 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 Steele County: Dodge, Freeborn, Goodhue, Mower, Rice & Waseca.

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

  • Steele County     (The home county of Meriden)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meriden, with the one closest to Meriden listed first.
    • Owatonna
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Medford
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Medford is located in Steele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,255 people
    • Hope
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Hope is located in Steele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
    • Steele Center
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Steele Center is located in Steele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steele Center
    • Havana
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Havana is located in Steele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
    • Pratt
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Pratt is located in Steele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt
    • River Point
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • River Point is located in Steele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Point
    • Ellendale
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Rice Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Rice Lake is located in Steele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Lake
    • Union
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Union is located in Steele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
    • Blooming Prairie
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Blue Earth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meriden, with the one closest to Meriden listed first.
    • Smiths Mill
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Smiths Mill is located in Blue Earth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smiths Mill
    • Pemberton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Pemberton is located in Blue Earth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pemberton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 241 people
    • Madison Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Clair
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Eagle Lake
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Beauford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Beauford is located in Blue Earth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beauford
    • Mankato
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • 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>
    • Mapleton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Dakota County
    • Waterford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Waterford is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterford
  • Dodge County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meriden, with the one closest to Meriden listed first.
    • Claremont
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Westfield Center ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Westfield Center is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westfield Center
    • West Concord
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Dodge Center
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Concord
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Concord is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
    • Hayfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Faribault County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meriden, with the one closest to Meriden listed first.
    • Minnesota Lake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Wells
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • 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>
  • Freeborn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meriden, with the one closest to Meriden listed first.
    • Bath
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Bath is located in Freeborn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath
    • Geneva
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Hartland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Hartland is located in Freeborn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 307 people
    • Clarks Grove
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Freeborn
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Hollandale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Manchester
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Manchester is located in Freeborn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manchester
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
    • Albert Lea
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Alden
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Hayward
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Goodhue County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meriden, with the one closest to Meriden listed first.
    • Kenyon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Dennison
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Wangs
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Wangs is located in Goodhue County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wangs
  • Le Sueur County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meriden, with the one closest to Meriden listed first.
    • Waterville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Kilkenny
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Greenland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Greenland is located in Le Sueur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenland
    • Cordova
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Cordova is located in Le Sueur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cordova
    • Marysburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Marysburg is located in Le Sueur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marysburg
    • Montgomery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Le Center
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Cleveland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Lexington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Lexington is located in Le Sueur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington
  • Mower County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meriden, with the one closest to Meriden listed first.
    • Lansing
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Lansing is located in Mower County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lansing
    • Waltham
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Rice County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meriden, with the one closest to Meriden listed first.
    • Morristown
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Warsaw
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Warsaw is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warsaw
    • Walcott
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Walcott is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walcott
    • Faribault
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Moland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Moland is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moland
    • Cannon City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Cannon City is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon City
    • Millersburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Millersburg is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersburg
    • Nerstrand
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Dundas
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Lonsdale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Trondjem
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Trondjem is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trondjem
    • Wheatland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Wheatland is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatland
    • Northfield
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Waseca County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meriden, with the one closest to Meriden listed first.
    • Waseca
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Wilton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Wilton is located in Waseca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilton
    • Palmer
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Palmer is located in Waseca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmer
    • Vista
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Vista is located in Waseca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vista
    • New Richland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Elysian
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Janesville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Alma City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Alma City is located in Waseca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma City
    • Waldorf
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Waldorf is located in Waseca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldorf
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 224 people

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

Cemeteries Near Meriden ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Meriden.

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

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

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

  • Lincoln Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • St. Paul's Lutheran Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Brase Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Mueller Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Karsten Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Norwegian Lutheran Meraker Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Woodville Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Lemond Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Crane Creek Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Deerfield Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Otisco Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (233 more) ...

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 Meriden had a population of 50 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Waseca
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Lemond
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Lemond is located in Steele County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemond
  • Deerfield
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Deerfield is located in Steele County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerfield
  • Otisco
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Otisco is located in Waseca County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otisco
  • Owatonna
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Clinton Falls
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Clinton Falls is located in Steele County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton Falls
  • Steele Center
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Steele Center is located in Steele County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steele Center
  • Medford
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Medford is located in Steele County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medford
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,255 people
  • Palmer
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Palmer is located in Waseca County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmer
  • Morristown
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • River Point
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • River Point is located in Steele County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Point
  • Pratt
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Pratt is located in Steele County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Havana
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Havana is located in Steele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
    • Warsaw
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Warsaw is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warsaw
    • Merton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Merton is located in Steele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merton

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

Newspapers Published in Meriden ...

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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around Meriden.

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

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 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 Meriden:

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