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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 Richdale (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 Richdale. 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 doctors and hospitals 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.

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

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

  • Otter Tail County     (The home county of Richdale)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Richdale, with the one closest to Richdale listed first.
    • Perham
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • 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 <1>
    • New York Mills
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Richville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Davies
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Davies is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davies
    • Ottertail
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Leaf City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Leaf City is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaf City
    • Dent
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • 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 <1>
    • Bluffton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Bluffton is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluffton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
    • Deer Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Deer Creek is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 321 people
    • Henning
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Amor
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
    • Vergas
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Becker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Richdale, with the one closest to Richdale listed first.
    • Evergreen
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Evergreen is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
    • Frazee
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Wolf Lake
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Wolf Lake is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
    • Bucks Mill
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Bucks Mill is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Mill
    • Rochert
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Detroit Lakes
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Osage
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Ponsford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Pine Point
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Pine Point is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Point
    • Cormorant
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Cormorant is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cormorant
  • Todd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Richdale, with the one closest to Richdale listed first.
    • Hewitt
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Hewitt is located in Todd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hewitt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
    • Bertha
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Wadena County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Richdale, with the one closest to Richdale listed first.
    • Sebeka
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Menahga
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Verndale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Nimrod
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Aldrich
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Aldrich is located in Wadena County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aldrich
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people

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

Cemeteries Near Richdale ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Richdale.

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

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

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

  • Historic Pine Lake Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • St. Lawrence Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Perham Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Old Greenwood Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Stanislaus Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Paul Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Salem EUB Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Prairie Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Woodland Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Bethlehem Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • St. Henry Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (195 more) ...
    • St. Joseph Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Richville Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Nazareth Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)

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>

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

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

  • New York Mills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Perham
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • 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 <1>
  • Davies
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Davies is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davies
  • Ottertail
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Luce
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Luce is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luce
  • Bluffton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Bluffton is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluffton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
  • Deer Creek
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Deer Creek is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 321 people
  • Amor
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
  • Henning
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Frazee
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Wadena
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Wadena is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wadena
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,121 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wadena <1>
  • Maine
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Maine is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Sebeka
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Phelps
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Phelps is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps
    • Clitherall
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Richdale ...

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 54 newspapers that have been published in the area around Richdale.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Richdale, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Richdale.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Richdale:

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 Richdale, 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 from Point A (ie- Richdale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.