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 Ortonville (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 Ortonville. 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 southwest 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 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 west 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.
Ortonville is primarily located in Big Stone County and is the County Seat. A portion of Ortonville extends into Lac qui Parle 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 Big Stone County: Lac qui Parle, Stevens, Swift, Traverse, Grant (SD) & Roberts (SD).
Below are the counties that are near Ortonville. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Ortonville:
- Big Stone County (The home county of Ortonville)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ortonville, with the one closest to Ortonville listed first.
- Odessa
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Clinton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Correll
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Correll is located in Big Stone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Correll
- Population from the 2020 Census: 31 people
- Barry
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Barry is located in Big Stone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barry
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15 people
- Graceville
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Johnson
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Johnson is located in Big Stone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 27 people
- Beardsley
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Chippewa County
- Milan
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Lac qui Parle County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ortonville, with the one closest to Ortonville listed first.
- Bellingham
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Bellingham is located in Lac qui Parle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellingham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
- Nassau
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Louisburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Louisburg is located in Lac qui Parle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 43 people
- Marietta
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Marietta is located in Lac qui Parle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marietta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 138 people
- Madison
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Madison is located in Lac qui Parle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madison
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,376 people
- Stevens County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ortonville, with the one closest to Ortonville listed first.
- Chokio
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Alberta
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Alberta is located in Stevens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
- Swift County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ortonville, with the one closest to Ortonville listed first.
- Appleton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Holloway
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Holloway is located in Swift County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holloway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people
- Traverse County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ortonville, with the one closest to Ortonville listed first.
- Collis
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Collis is located in Traverse County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collis
- Browns Valley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Browns Valley is located in Traverse County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 522 people
- Dumont
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Dumont is located in Traverse County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumont
- Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
- Codington County (SD)
- South Shore
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Deuel County (SD)
- Tunerville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Tunerville is located in Deuel County (SD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunerville
- Estimated population in 2014: 218 people
- Grant County (SD)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ortonville, with the one closest to Ortonville listed first.
- Big Stone City
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Milbank
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Twin Brooks
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Albee
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Albee is located in Grant County (SD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albee
- Population from the 2020 Census: 17 people
- Revillo
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- LaBolt
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Stockholm
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Strandburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Marvin
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Roberts County (SD)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ortonville, with the one closest to Ortonville listed first.
- Shady Beach
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Shady Beach is located in Roberts County (SD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Beach
- Hartford Beach
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Hartford Beach is located in Roberts County (SD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartford Beach
- Estimated population in 2014: 126 people
- South Dakota Park
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- South Dakota Park is located in Roberts County (SD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Dakota Park
- Estimated population in 2014: 15 people
- Corona
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Wilmot
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Peever Flats
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Peever Flats is located in Roberts County (SD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peever Flats
- Summit
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Peever
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Ortonville, see our County-by-County Page for Ortonville.
Cemeteries Near Ortonville ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ortonville.
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 Ortonville - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Ortonville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Ortonville, with the one closest to Ortonville listed first.
- Mound Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- St. Charles Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- St. Johns Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Rest Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Immanuel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Yellow Bank Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Odessa Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Big Stone Baptist Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Mills Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Odessa Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Eids Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (103 more) ...
- Eidskog Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Maple Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Lakeside Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 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.<4>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Ortonville had a population of 768 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Ortonville had a population of 1,748 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Ortonville, with the one closest to Ortonville listed first.
- Big Stone City
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Odessa
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Clinton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Bellingham
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Bellingham is located in Lac qui Parle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellingham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
- Correll
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Correll is located in Big Stone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Correll
- Population from the 2020 Census: 31 people
- Corona
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Nassau
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Louisburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Louisburg is located in Lac qui Parle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 43 people
- Twin Brooks
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Albee
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Albee is located in Grant County (SD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albee
- Population from the 2020 Census: 17 people
- Barry
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Barry is located in Big Stone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barry
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15 people
- Graceville
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Johnson
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Johnson is located in Big Stone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 27 people
- LaBolt
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Revillo
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Ortonville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ortonville.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Ortonville ...
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 74 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ortonville.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Ortonville. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Ortonville and those printed in the larger area surrounding Ortonville.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<2> of Ortonville.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Ortonville:
- Websites specific to Minnesota
- Pages specific to Big Stone County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Chippewa County
- Lac qui Parle County
- Stevens County
- Swift County
- Traverse County
- Codington County
- Deuel County
- Grant County
- Roberts County
- 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ortonville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Ortonville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |