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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 Perham (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 Perham. 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 doctors and hospitals 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.

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

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

  • Otter Tail County     (The home county of Perham)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Perham, with the one closest to Perham listed first.
    • Richville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richville
      • Richville is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richville <2>
    • Dent
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dent have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dent
      • Dent is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 185 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dent <2>
    • New York Mills
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Vergas
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vergas have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vergas
      • Vergas is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 354 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vergas <2>
    • Ottertail
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ottertail have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottertail
      • Ottertail is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 660 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ottertail <2>
    • Leaf City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leaf City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaf City
      • Leaf City is located in Otter Tail County
    • Amor
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
      • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
    • Bluffton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bluffton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluffton
      • Bluffton is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
    • Deer Creek
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
      • Deer Creek is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 321 people
    • Henning
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Henning have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henning
      • Henning is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 806 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henning <2>
    • Nirvana
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nirvana
      • Nirvana is located in Otter Tail County
    • Battle Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
  • Becker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Perham, with the one closest to Perham listed first.
    • Frazee
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frazee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frazee
      • Frazee is located in Becker County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,381 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Frazee <2>
    • Evergreen
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
      • Evergreen is located in Becker County
    • Wolf Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolf Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Lake
      • Wolf Lake is located in Becker County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
    • Rochert
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rochert have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochert
      • Rochert is located in Becker County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rochert <2>
    • Bucks Mill
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bucks Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Mill
      • Bucks Mill is located in Becker County
    • Detroit Lakes
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Detroit Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Detroit Lakes
      • Detroit Lakes is located in Becker County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,255 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Detroit Lakes <2>
    • Cormorant
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cormorant
      • Cormorant is located in Becker County
    • Osage
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Osage have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osage
      • Osage is located in Becker County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Osage <2>
    • Audubon
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Pine Point
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Point
      • Pine Point is located in Becker County
    • Ponsford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ponsford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponsford
      • Ponsford is located in Becker County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ponsford <2>
    • Richwood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwood
      • Richwood is located in Becker County
  • Todd County
    • Hewitt
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hewitt have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hewitt
      • Hewitt is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
  • Wadena County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Perham, with the one closest to Perham listed first.
    • Sebeka
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sebeka have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sebeka
      • Sebeka is located in Wadena County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 668 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sebeka <2>
    • Menahga
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Menahga have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menahga
      • Menahga is located in Wadena County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,307 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Menahga <2>
    • Verndale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Verndale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verndale
      • Verndale is located in Wadena County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 576 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Verndale <2>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Perham ...

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 55 newspapers that have been published in the area around Perham.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Perham. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Perham and those printed in the larger area surrounding Perham.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Perham.

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 Perham:

Cemeteries Near Perham ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Perham.

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

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

  • St. Paul Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Paul Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Paul Cemetery
  • St. Stanislaus Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Stanislaus Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Stanislaus Cemetery
  • St. Henry Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Henry Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Henry Cemetery
  • Perham Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Perham Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Perham Cemetery
  • Bauck Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bauck Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bauck Cemetery
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph Cemetery
  • Memorial Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Flatau Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Flatau Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Flatau Cemetery
  • Gorman Twp. Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gorman Twp. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gorman Twp. Cemetery
  • St. Lawrence Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Lawrence Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Lawrence Church Cemetery
  • Historic Pine Lake Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Historic Pine Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Historic Pine Lake Cemetery
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery
  • Continue List   (197 more) ...
    • Immanuel Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Immanuel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Immanuel Cemetery
    • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    • Sacred Heart Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • 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.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sacred Heart Cemetery

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 Perham had a population of 761 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Perham had a population of 3,638 people.

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

  • Luce
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Luce have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luce
    • Luce is located in Otter Tail County
  • New York Mills
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Frazee
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frazee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frazee
    • Frazee is located in Becker County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,381 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Frazee <2>
  • Ottertail
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ottertail have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottertail
    • Ottertail is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 660 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ottertail <2>
  • Davies
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Davies have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davies
    • Davies is located in Otter Tail County
  • Amor
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
    • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
  • Maine
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
    • Maine is located in Otter Tail County
  • Deer Creek
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
    • Deer Creek is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 321 people
  • Bluffton
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bluffton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluffton
    • Bluffton is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
  • Bucks Mill
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bucks Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Mill
    • Bucks Mill is located in Becker County
  • Phelps
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Phelps have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps
    • Phelps is located in Otter Tail County
  • Henning
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Henning have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henning
    • Henning is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 806 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henning <2>
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Edwards
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
      • Edwards is located in Otter Tail County
    • Battle Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Clitherall
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clitherall have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clitherall
      • Clitherall is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 106 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clitherall <2>

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

The official website for Perham: www.cityofperham.com/

The official website for Otter Tail County: www.co.otter-tail.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>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- Perham) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Perham. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.5990, Longitude: -95.5730       In this case, the coordinates for Perham have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Perham, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024