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 Orleans (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 Orleans. 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 and hospitals 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.
Orleans is located in Kittson 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 Kittson County: Marshall, Roseau, Pembina (ND) & Walsh (ND).
Below are the counties that are near Orleans. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Orleans:
- Kittson County (The home county of Orleans)
- The following are listed by their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
- Lancaster
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Humboldt
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Humboldt is located in Kittson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humboldt
- Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
- Hallock
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Noyes
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Noyes is located in Kittson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noyes
- Saint Vincent
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Saint Vincent is located in Kittson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Vincent
- Population from the 2020 Census: 60 people
- Mattson
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Mattson is located in Kittson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mattson
- Lake Bronson
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Kennedy
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Donaldson
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Donaldson is located in Kittson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donaldson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 39 people
- Halma
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Deerwood
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Deerwood is located in Kittson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerwood
- Karlstad
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Pembina County (ND)
- The following are listed by their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
- McArthur
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- McArthur is located in Pembina County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McArthur
- Huron City ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Huron City is located in Pembina County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron City
- Pembina
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Joliette
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Joliette is located in Pembina County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joliette
- Bowesmont
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Bowesmont is located in Pembina County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowesmont
- Pittsburgh
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Pittsburgh is located in Pembina County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsburgh
- Bathgate
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Hamilton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Drayton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Glasston
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Neche
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Orleans, see our County-by-County Page for Orleans.
Cemeteries Near Orleans ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Orleans.
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 Orleans - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Orleans covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
- Morrison Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Oak View Catholic Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Sikar Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Holy Rosary Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Riverview Memorial Gardens
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Overstoneville Baptist Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Humboldt Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- South Ridge Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Ridge Cemetery
- The South Ridge Cemetery has also been known as:
- Ridgeville Cemetery
- South Junction Our Lady of Assumption RC Cemetery
- Tom Lako Farm Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Saron Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Friedensthal Lutheran Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Swanson Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Continue List (82 more) ...
- Greenwood Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Union Liberty Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Joe River Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
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.<3>
While we didn't find Orleans in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Orleans.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
- Northcote
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Northcote is located in Kittson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northcote
- Humboldt
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Humboldt is located in Kittson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humboldt
- Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
- Hallock
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Saint Vincent
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Saint Vincent is located in Kittson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Vincent
- Population from the 2020 Census: 60 people
- Pembina
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Joliette
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Joliette is located in Pembina County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joliette
- Mattson
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Mattson is located in Kittson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mattson
- Bowesmont
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Bowesmont is located in Pembina County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowesmont
- Kennedy
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Pittsburgh
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Pittsburgh is located in Pembina County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsburgh
- Hamilton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Donaldson
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Donaldson is located in Kittson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donaldson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 39 people
- Continue List (4 more) ...
- Bathgate
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Glasston
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Drayton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Orleans. See our List of 1890's Communities around Orleans.
Newspapers Published in Orleans ...
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 29 newspapers that have been published in the area around Orleans.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Orleans, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Orleans.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Orleans:
- Websites specific to Minnesota
- Pages specific to Kittson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Minnesota
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> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Orleans, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- Orleans) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |