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 Peterson (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 Peterson. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.
Peterson is located in Fillmore 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 Fillmore County: Howard (IA), Winneshiek (IA), Houston, Mower, Olmsted & Winona.
Below are the counties that are near Peterson. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Peterson:
- Fillmore County (The home county of Peterson)
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Rushford Village
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Rushford Village is located in Fillmore County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rushford Village
- Population from the 2020 Census: 838 people
- South Rushford
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- South Rushford is located in Fillmore County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Rushford
- Rushford
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bratsberg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Bratsberg is located in Fillmore County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bratsberg
- Whalan
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Lanesboro
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Preston
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Newburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Newburg is located in Fillmore County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
- Fountain
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Canton
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Carimona
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Carimona is located in Fillmore County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carimona
- Chatfield
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Houston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Yucatan
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Yucatan is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yucatan
- Money Creek
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Money Creek is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Money Creek
- Houston
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Riceford
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Riceford is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riceford
- Spring Grove
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Caledonia
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Willington Grove
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Willington Grove is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willington Grove
- Wilmington
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Wilmington is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmington
- Bee
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Bee is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee
- Hokah
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- La Crescent
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Eitzen
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Eitzen is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eitzen
- Population from the 2020 Census: 248 people
- Olmsted County
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Dover
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Eyota
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Predmore
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Predmore is located in Olmsted County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Predmore
- Viola
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Viola is located in Olmsted County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viola
- Simpson
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Simpson is located in Olmsted County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simpson
- Wabasha County
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Minneiska
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Weaver
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Weaver is located in Wabasha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weaver
- Elgin
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Winona County
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Wyattville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Wyattville is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyattville
- Clyde
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Clyde is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
- Lewiston
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Saratoga
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Saratoga is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saratoga
- Troy
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Troy is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troy
- Wilson
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Wilson is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
- Utica
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Stockton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Stockton is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 773 people
- Saint Charles
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Altura
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Goodview
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Goodview is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,127 people
- Winona
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Allamakee County (IA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Quandahl
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Quandahl is located in Allamakee County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quandahl
- Dorchester
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Howard County (IA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Florenceville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Florenceville is located in Howard County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florenceville
- Forest City ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Forest City is located in Howard County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
- Winneshiek County (IA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Hesper
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Hesper is located in Winneshiek County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hesper
- Burr Oak
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Highlandville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Highlandville is located in Winneshiek County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highlandville
- Bluffton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Bluffton is located in Winneshiek County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluffton
- Kendallville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Kendallville is located in Winneshiek County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kendallville
- Buffalo County (WI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Bluff Siding
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bluff Siding is located in Buffalo County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff Siding
- Fountain City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Fountain City is located in Buffalo County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 842 people
- Marshland
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Marshland is located in Buffalo County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshland
- Buffalo City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Buffalo City is located in Buffalo County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 948 people
- Buffalo
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Buffalo is located in Buffalo County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
- Cochrane
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Cochrane is located in Buffalo County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochrane
- Population from the 2020 Census: 409 people
- La Crosse County (WI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Brice Prairie
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Brice Prairie is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brice Prairie
- French Island
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- French Island is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Island
- La Crosse
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- La Crosse is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Crosse
- Population from the 2020 Census: 51,163 people
- North La Crosse
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- North La Crosse is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North La Crosse
- Grand Crossing
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Grand Crossing is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Crossing
- Midway
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Midway is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
- Onalaska
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Onalaska is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onalaska
- Population from the 2020 Census: 19,108 people
- Holmen
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Holmen is located in La Crosse County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmen
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,368 people
- Trempealeau County (WI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Trempealeau
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Trempealeau is located in Trempealeau County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trempealeau
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,663 people
- Wrights Corners
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Wrights Corners is located in Trempealeau County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrights Corners
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Peterson, see our County-by-County Page for Peterson.
Cemeteries Near Peterson ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Peterson.
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 Peterson - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Peterson covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- East Grace Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- West Grace Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Hungerholdt Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Johnson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Arendahl Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Sherwood Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Highland Prairie Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Kopperud Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Bell Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- North Highland Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- St. Johns Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (280 more) ...
- Scottish Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Lanesboro Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- St. Patrick's Catholic Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
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 Peterson had a population of 300 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Peterson had a population of 198 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Peterson, with the one closest to Peterson listed first.
- Bratsberg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Bratsberg is located in Fillmore County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bratsberg
- Rushford
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Arendahl
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Arendahl is located in Fillmore County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arendahl
- Whalan
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Highland
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Highland is located in Fillmore County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
- Hart
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Hart is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hart
- Lanesboro
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Choice
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Choice is located in Fillmore County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choice
- Yucatan
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Yucatan is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yucatan
- Wyattville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Wyattville is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyattville
- Clyde
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Clyde is located in Winona County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
- Money Creek
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Money Creek is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Money Creek
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Isinours
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Isinours is located in Fillmore County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isinours
- Amherst
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Amherst is located in Fillmore County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amherst
- Houston
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Peterson. See our List of 1890's Communities around Peterson.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Peterson ...
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 97 newspapers that have been published in the area around Peterson.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Peterson. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Peterson and those printed in the larger area surrounding Peterson.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Peterson.
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 Peterson:
- Websites specific to Minnesota
- Pages specific to Fillmore County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Houston County
- Olmsted County
- Wabasha County
- Winona County
- Allamakee County
- Howard County
- Winneshiek County
- Buffalo County
- La Crosse County
- Trempealeau 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> | 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 Peterson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Peterson) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |