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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 Ottertail (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 Ottertail. 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.

Name Variations for Ottertail ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

Another variation: Otter Tail.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Ottertail. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Ottertail.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 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.

Ottertail is located in Otter Tail 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 Otter Tail County: Becker, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Todd, Wadena & Wilkin.

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

  • Otter Tail County     (The home county of Ottertail)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ottertail, with the one closest to Ottertail listed first.
    • Leaf City
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Leaf City is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaf City
    • Richville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Henning
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Amor
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
    • Nirvana
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Nirvana is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nirvana
    • New York Mills
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Clitherall
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Deer Creek
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Deer Creek is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 321 people
    • Dent
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Dent is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dent
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 185 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dent <1>
    • Vining
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Perham
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Perham is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,638 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perham <1>
    • Battle Lake
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Maine
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Maine is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
  • Becker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ottertail, with the one closest to Ottertail listed first.
    • Frazee
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Evergreen
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Evergreen is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
    • Bucks Mill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Bucks Mill is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Mill
    • Wolf Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Wolf Lake is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
    • Rochert
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Detroit Lakes
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ottertail, with the one closest to Ottertail listed first.
    • Millerville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Millerville is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
    • Melby
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Melby is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melby
    • Evansville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Miltona
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Rose City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Rose City is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose City
  • Grant County
    • Ashby
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Todd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ottertail, with the one closest to Ottertail listed first.
    • Hewitt
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Hewitt is located in Todd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hewitt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
    • Bertha
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Eagle Bend
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Wadena County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ottertail, with the one closest to Ottertail listed first.
    • Verndale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Sebeka
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Aldrich
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Aldrich is located in Wadena County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aldrich
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people

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

Cemeteries Near Ottertail ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ottertail.

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

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

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

  • St. John's Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Otter Tail Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Zion Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Leaf Lake Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Salem EUB Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Leaf Lake Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Prairie Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Girard Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Grace Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Leaf Lake Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Lawrence Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Oakwood Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (214 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 in 1895, Ottertail had a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Ottertail had a population of 660 people.

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

  • Henning
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Amor
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
  • Clitherall
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • New York Mills
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Vining
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Deer Creek
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Deer Creek is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 321 people
  • Phelps
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Phelps is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps
  • Battle Lake
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Perham
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Perham is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perham
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,638 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perham <1>
  • Maine
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Maine is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
  • Bluffton
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Bluffton is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluffton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
  • Luce
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Luce is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luce
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Davies
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Davies is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davies
    • Underwood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Wrightstown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Wrightstown is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrightstown

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

Newspapers Published in Ottertail ...

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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ottertail.

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

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Ottertail:

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 Ottertail, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ottertail) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.