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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 Opstead (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 Opstead. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Opstead is located in Mille Lacs 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 Mille Lacs County: Aitkin, Benton, Crow Wing, Isanti, Kanabec, Morrison & Sherburne.

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

  • Mille Lacs County     (The home county of Opstead)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Opstead, with the one closest to Opstead listed first.
    • Isle
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Isle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isle
      • Isle is located in Mille Lacs County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 790 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Isle <2>
    • Wahkon
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wahkon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahkon
      • Wahkon is located in Mille Lacs County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 218 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wahkon <2>
    • Onamia
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Onamia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onamia
      • Onamia is located in Mille Lacs County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 858 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Onamia <2>
    • Vineland
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vineland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineland
      • Vineland is located in Mille Lacs County
  • Aitkin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Opstead, with the one closest to Opstead listed first.
    • Malmo
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malmo
      • Malmo is located in Aitkin County
    • McGrath
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McGrath have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGrath
      • McGrath is located in Aitkin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 73 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McGrath <2>
    • Wealthwood
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wealthwood
      • Wealthwood is located in Aitkin County
    • Nichols
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Nichols. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nichols
      • Nichols is located in Aitkin County
    • Kimberly
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimberly
      • Kimberly is located in Aitkin County
    • Aitkin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Hassman
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hassman
      • Hassman is located in Aitkin County
    • McGregor
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Carlton County
    • Automba
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Automba
      • Automba is located in Carlton County
  • Crow Wing County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Opstead, with the one closest to Opstead listed first.
    • Garrison
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garrison have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garrison
      • Garrison is located in Crow Wing County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 205 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garrison <2>
    • Bay Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Lake
      • Bay Lake is located in Crow Wing County
    • Deerwood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deerwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerwood
      • Deerwood is located in Crow Wing County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 725 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deerwood <2>
    • Crosby
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crosby
      • Crosby is located in Crow Wing County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,315 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crosby <2>
    • Cuyuna
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cuyuna have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuyuna
      • Cuyuna is located in Crow Wing County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 365 people
    • Ironton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Kanabec County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Opstead, with the one closest to Opstead listed first.
    • Mora
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mora
      • Mora is located in Kanabec County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,583 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mora <2>
    • Quamba
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Quamba have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quamba
      • Quamba is located in Kanabec County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 127 people
    • Ogilvie
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ogilvie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogilvie
      • Ogilvie is located in Kanabec County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 373 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ogilvie <2>
  • Morrison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Opstead, with the one closest to Opstead listed first.
    • Hillman
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman
      • Hillman is located in Morrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 36 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hillman <2>
    • Harding
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harding
      • Harding is located in Morrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 122 people
  • Pine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Opstead, with the one closest to Opstead listed first.
    • Denham
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Denham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denham
      • Denham is located in Pine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 34 people
    • Finlayson
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Brook Park
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brook Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brook Park
      • Brook Park is located in Pine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 132 people
    • Rutledge
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rutledge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutledge
      • Rutledge is located in Pine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 221 people
    • Sandstone
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sandstone have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandstone
      • Sandstone is located in Pine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,554 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sandstone <2>
    • Hinckley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Willow River
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Henriette
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Henriette have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henriette
      • Henriette is located in Pine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 69 people

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

Cemeteries Near Opstead ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Opstead.

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

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

  • Holden Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holden Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holden Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Redtop Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Redtop Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Redtop Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lakeside Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeside Cemetery
    • 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.
  • Ostlund Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ostlund Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ostlund Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Isle Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Isle Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Isle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sunset Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunset Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunset Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sacred Heart Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sacred Heart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Malmo Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Malmo Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Malmo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Foster Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Foster Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Foster Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Grace Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grace Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grace Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pliny Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pliny Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pliny Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jewitt Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jewitt Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jewitt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (80 more) ...
    • Black Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Black Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Black Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Crosier Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crosier Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crosier Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Holy Cross Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Cross Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Cross Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Opstead had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Malmo
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malmo
    • Malmo is located in Aitkin County
  • Vineland
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vineland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineland
    • Vineland is located in Mille Lacs County
  • Nichols
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Nichols. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nichols
    • Nichols is located in Aitkin County
  • Garrison
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garrison have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garrison
    • Garrison is located in Crow Wing County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 205 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garrison <2>
  • Rossburg
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rossburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossburg
    • Rossburg is located in Aitkin County
  • Kimberly
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimberly
    • Kimberly is located in Aitkin County
  • Aitkin
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • Mora
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mora
    • Mora is located in Kanabec County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,583 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mora <2>
  • Finlayson
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
  • McGregor
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Deerwood
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deerwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerwood
    • Deerwood is located in Crow Wing County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 725 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deerwood <2>
  • Hinckley
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Sandstone
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sandstone have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandstone
    • Sandstone is located in Pine County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,554 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sandstone <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Opstead ...

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 45 newspapers that have been published in the area around Opstead.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Opstead, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Opstead.

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 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 Opstead:

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

The official website for Mille Lacs County: www.co.mille-lacs.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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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 Opstead, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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- Opstead) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Opstead. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.2338, Longitude: -93.4722       In this case, the coordinates for Opstead have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025