RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Minnesota >> Otter Tail County >> Phelps >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Minnesota

The Commemorative Quarter for Minnesota





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 Phelps (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 Phelps. 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.

Phelps 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 Phelps. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Phelps:

  • Otter Tail County     (The home county of Phelps)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Phelps, with the one closest to Phelps listed first.
    • Amor
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • 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
    • Underwood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Underwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Underwood
      • Underwood is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Underwood <2>
    • Battle Lake
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Edwards
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
      • Edwards is located in Otter Tail County
    • Clitherall
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • 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>
    • Ottertail
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • 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>
    • Dent
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • 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>
    • Richville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • 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>
    • Nirvana
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nirvana
      • Nirvana is located in Otter Tail County
    • Fergus Falls
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Dalton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Elizabeth
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elizabeth have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth
      • Elizabeth is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 170 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elizabeth <2>
  • Becker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Phelps, with the one closest to Phelps listed first.
    • Bucks Mill
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • 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
    • Frazee
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • 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>
    • Cormorant
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cormorant
      • Cormorant is located in Becker County
    • Detroit Lakes
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • 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>
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Phelps, with the one closest to Phelps listed first.
    • Melby
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melby
      • Melby is located in Douglas County
    • Millerville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millerville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerville
      • Millerville is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
    • Evansville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Brandon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brandon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandon
      • Brandon is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 489 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brandon <2>
  • Grant County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Phelps, with the one closest to Phelps listed first.
    • Ashby
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ashby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashby
      • Ashby is located in Grant County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ashby <2>
    • Erdahl
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erdahl
      • Erdahl is located in Grant County
    • Elbow Lake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Wendell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Wilkin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Phelps, with the one closest to Phelps listed first.
    • Foxhome
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Foxhome have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxhome
      • Foxhome is located in Wilkin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 112 people
    • Lawndale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lawndale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawndale
      • Lawndale is located in Wilkin County

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

Newspapers Published in Phelps ...

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 79 newspapers that have been published in the area around Phelps.

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

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 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 Phelps:

Cemeteries Near Phelps ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Phelps.

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

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

  • Silent Vale Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Silent Vale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Silent Vale Cemetery
  • St. James Catholic Church Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. James Catholic Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. James Catholic Church Cemetery
  • Tingvold Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tingvold Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tingvold Cemetery
  • Rindal Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Otter Tail County Sanitorium Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Otter Tail County Sanitorium Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Otter Tail County Sanitorium Cemetery
  • Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery
  • Sverdrup Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sverdrup Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sverdrup Cemetery
  • Skibvedt Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Skibvedt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Skibvedt Cemetery
  • Swedish Baptist Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Swedish Baptist Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Swedish Baptist Church Cemetery
  • Sunset Memorial Unitarian Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunset Memorial Unitarian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunset Memorial Unitarian Cemetery
  • Oakwood Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oakwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oakwood Cemetery
  • St. Paul Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • 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
  • Continue List   (200 more) ...
    • Aurdal Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Aurdal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Aurdal Cemetery
    • Trinity Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trinity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trinity Cemetery
    • Stavanger Lutheran Church Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stavanger Lutheran Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stavanger Lutheran Church 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Phelps had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Maine
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • 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
  • Amor
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • 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
  • Underwood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Underwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Underwood
    • Underwood is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Underwood <2>
  • Battle Lake
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Wall Lake
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wall Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wall Lake
    • Wall Lake is located in Otter Tail County
  • Edwards
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
    • Edwards is located in Otter Tail County
  • Clitherall
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • 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>
  • Ottertail
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • 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>
  • Fergus Falls
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Parkdale
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parkdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkdale
    • Parkdale is located in Otter Tail County
  • Dalton
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Erhard
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Erhard have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erhard
    • Erhard is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 145 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Erhard <2>
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Elizabeth
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elizabeth have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth
      • Elizabeth is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 170 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elizabeth <2>
    • Vining
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Carlisle
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carlisle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlisle
      • Carlisle is located in Otter Tail County

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Phelps. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Phelps) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Phelps. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.3802, Longitude: -95.8206       In this case, the coordinates for Phelps have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<5>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 Phelps, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024