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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 Richards (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 Richards. 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 Richards ...

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.

While the name of this community is Richards, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Richards may originally have been Richard's.

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

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.

Richards is located in Becker 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 Becker County: Clay, Clearwater, Hubbard, Mahnomen, Norman, Otter Tail & Wadena.

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

  • Becker County     (The home county of Richards)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Richards, with the one closest to Richards listed first.
    • Detroit Lakes
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Audubon
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bucks Mill
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Bucks Mill is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Mill
    • Lake Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Rochert
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Callaway
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Richwood
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Richwood is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwood
    • Cormorant
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Cormorant is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cormorant
    • Frazee
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Ogema
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Ogema is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogema
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 183 people
    • White Earth
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Evergreen
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Evergreen is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Richards, with the one closest to Richards listed first.
    • Rollag
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Rollag is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollag
    • Hitterdal
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Hitterdal is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hitterdal
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 213 people
    • Hawley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Ulen
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Muskoda
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Muskoda is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muskoda
    • Barnesville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Mahnomen County
    • Waubun
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
  • Norman County
  • Otter Tail County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Richards, with the one closest to Richards listed first.
    • Vergas
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Pelican Rapids
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Dent
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • 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 <2>
    • Perham
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • 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 <2>
    • Erhard
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Edwards
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Edwards is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
    • Richville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Maine
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Maine is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
    • Amor
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
    • Rothsay
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Wilkin County
    • Lawndale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Lawndale is located in Wilkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawndale

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

Cemeteries Near Richards ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Richards.

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

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

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

  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Elmwood Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Holy Rosary Catholic Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Immanuel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Cook Family Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Cook Family Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • St. Peter's Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Audubon Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Audubon Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Audubon Cemetery is located outside and to the west of Audubon.
  • Felker Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Felker Family Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Lake Eunice Evangelical Free Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (151 more) ...
    • Augustana Lutheran Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Bakke Lutheran Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Upsala Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)

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.<3>

While we didn't find Richards in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Richards.

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

  • Audubon
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Bucks Mill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Bucks Mill is located in Becker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Mill
  • Lake Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Cormorant
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Cormorant is located in Becker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cormorant
  • Richwood
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Richwood is located in Becker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwood
  • Frazee
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Rollag
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Rollag is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollag
  • Winnipeg Junction
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Winnipeg Junction is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winnipeg Junction
  • Luce
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Luce is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luce
  • Tansem
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Tansem is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tansem
  • White Earth
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Pelican Rapids
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Hitterdal
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Hitterdal is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hitterdal
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 213 people
    • Hawley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Norwegian Grove
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Norwegian Grove is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwegian Grove

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

Newspapers Published in Richards ...

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 49 newspapers that have been published in the area around Richards.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Richards, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Richards.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Richards:

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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 Richards, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Richards) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.