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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 Pillsbury (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 Pillsbury. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Pillsbury is located in Todd 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 Todd County: Douglas, Morrison, Otter Tail, Stearns & Wadena.

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

  • Todd County     (The home county of Pillsbury)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pillsbury, with the one closest to Pillsbury listed first.
    • Burtrum
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Grey Eagle
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Long Prairie
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Prairie
      • Long Prairie is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,297 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Long Prairie <1>
    • Browerville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Browerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browerville
      • Browerville is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
    • Clarissa
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarissa have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarissa
      • Clarissa is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 651 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clarissa <1>
    • Clotho
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • West Union
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Union have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Union
      • West Union is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
    • Eagle Bend
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Bend
      • Eagle Bend is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 518 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eagle Bend <1>
    • Philbrook
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Philbrook. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Philbrook
      • Philbrook is located in Todd County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Philbrook
      • From Pillsbury to Philbrook
    • Staples
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Staples have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Staples
      • Staples is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,068 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Staples <1>
    • Bertha
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bertha have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertha
      • Bertha is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 481 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bertha <1>
  • Benton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pillsbury, with the one closest to Pillsbury listed first.
    • Rice
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rice have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice
      • Rice is located in Benton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,401 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rice <1>
    • Watab
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Cass County
    • Pillager
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pillager have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pillager
      • Pillager is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 486 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pillager <1>
  • Crow Wing County
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pillsbury, with the one closest to Pillsbury listed first.
    • Osakis
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Rose City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rose City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose City
      • Rose City is located in Douglas County
    • Belle River
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Nelson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nelson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
      • Nelson is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 192 people
    • Carlos
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carlos have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlos
      • Carlos is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 490 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carlos <1>
    • Miltona
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Morrison County
  • Pope County
  • Stearns County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pillsbury, with the one closest to Pillsbury listed first.
    • Saint Rosa
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Rosa have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Rosa
      • Saint Rosa is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
    • Saint Anthony
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Anthony have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Anthony
      • Saint Anthony is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 91 people
    • Holdingford
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holdingford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holdingford
      • Holdingford is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 725 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holdingford <1>
    • Freeport
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeport have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
      • Freeport is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 671 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeport <1>
    • Melrose
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Sauk Centre
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Opole
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Opole. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opole
      • Opole is located in Stearns County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Opole
      • From Pillsbury to Opole
    • Albany
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • New Munich
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Munich have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Munich
      • New Munich is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 330 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Munich <1>
    • Meire Grove
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meire Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meire Grove
      • Meire Grove is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
    • Saint Wendel
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Greenwald
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenwald have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwald
      • Greenwald is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 224 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenwald <1>
    • Avon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Pillsbury ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pillsbury.

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

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

  • Bearhead Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bearhead Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bearhead Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. John Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. John Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Peter Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Peter Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Peter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Peter Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Peter Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Peter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Spring Brook Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spring Brook Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spring Brook Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Swanville St. Peter Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Swanville St. Peter Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Swanville St. Peter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • G A R Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the G A R Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the G A R Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Long Prairie Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Long Prairie Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Long Prairie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Peters Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Peters Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Peters Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. John's Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John's Lutheran Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. John's Lutheran Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Swedish Mission Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Swedish Mission Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Swedish Mission Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (167 more) ...
    • Sacred Heart Cemetery East
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sacred Heart Cemetery East
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sacred Heart Cemetery East have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Mission Covenant Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mission Covenant Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mission Covenant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Joseph Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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, Pillsbury had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Swanville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Burtrum
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Grey Eagle
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Round Prairie
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Round Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Prairie
    • Round Prairie is located in Todd County
  • Long Prairie
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Prairie
    • Long Prairie is located in Todd County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,297 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Long Prairie <1>
  • Upsala
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Elmdale
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elmdale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmdale
    • Elmdale is located in Morrison County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Elmdale
    • From Pillsbury to Elmdale
  • Little Sauk
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Sauk have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Sauk
    • Little Sauk is located in Todd County
  • Spaulding
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spaulding have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spaulding
    • Spaulding is located in Todd County
  • Randall
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Browerville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Browerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browerville
    • Browerville is located in Todd County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
  • Gregory
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gregory have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
    • Gregory is located in Morrison County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Pillsbury ...

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 66 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pillsbury.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pillsbury, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Pillsbury.

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 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 Pillsbury:

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

The official website for Todd County: www.co.todd.mn.us/

The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.gov/

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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<3>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.
<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 Pillsbury, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Pillsbury) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Pillsbury. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.9331, Longitude: -94.6839       In this case, the coordinates for Pillsbury have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 14 Jul 2025