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 Ridge (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 Ridge. 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 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.

Ridge is located in Saint Louis 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 Saint Louis County: Aitkin, Carlton, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake & Douglas (WI).

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

• Saint Louis County     (The home county of Ridge)
  • The following are listed by their distance from Ridge, with the one closest to Ridge listed first.
  • Babbitt
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Babbitt have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babbitt
    • Babbitt is located in Saint Louis County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,471 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Babbitt <2>
  • Hoyt Lakes
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hoyt Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoyt Lakes
    • Hoyt Lakes is located in Saint Louis County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,927 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hoyt Lakes <2>
  • Allen
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
    • Allen is located in Saint Louis County
    • Allen has also been known as:
    • Allen Junction
  • Embarrass
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Embarrass
    • Embarrass is located in Saint Louis County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Embarrass <2>
  • Aurora
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aurora have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
    • Aurora is located in Saint Louis County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,610 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Aurora <2>
  • Pineville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pineville
    • Pineville is located in Saint Louis County
  • Biwabik
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biwabik
    • Biwabik is located in Saint Louis County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 966 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Biwabik <2>
  • Soudan
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Soudan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soudan
    • Soudan is located in Saint Louis County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Soudan <2>
  • Tower Junction
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tower Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Junction
    • Tower Junction is located in Saint Louis County
  • Tower
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower
    • Tower is located in Saint Louis County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 477 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tower <2>
  • Belgrade
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belgrade have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belgrade
    • Belgrade is located in Saint Louis County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Belgrade <2>
  • McKinley
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McKinley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKinley
    • McKinley is located in Saint Louis County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 122 people
• Lake County
  • Jordan
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jordan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordan
    • Jordan is located in Lake County

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

Newspapers Published in Ridge ...

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 44 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ridge.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ridge, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ridge.

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 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 Ridge:

• Websites specific to Minnesota
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Website for the Minnesota State Archives

• Pages specific to Saint Louis County
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Genealogy information for nearby counties
  • Lake County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Cemetery Information and Directories for Minnesota
  • Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of Minnesota
  • Cyndi's List
  • Cemeteries of Minnesota
  • Cemeteries of Saint Louis County
  • FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of Minnesota
  • Find-A-Grave: Home Page
  • Interment.net
  • Cemeteries of Minnesota
  • Cemeteries of Saint Louis County

Cemeteries Near Ridge ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ridge.

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

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

• Argo Cemetery
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Argo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Argo Cemetery
• Armanda Cemetery
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Armanda Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Armanda Cemetery
• Embarrass Cemetery
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Embarrass Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Embarrass Cemetery
• Czechoslovakian National Cemetery
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Czechoslovakian National Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Czechoslovakian National Cemetery
• Forest Hill Cemetery
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Hill Cemetery
• Birch Lake Cemetery
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Birch Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Birch Lake Cemetery
• Old Vermilion Lake Cemetery
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Vermilion Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Vermilion Lake Cemetery
• Pike River Cemetery
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pike River Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pike River Cemetery
• Lake View Cemetery
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • The Lake View Cemetery has also been known as:
  • Lakeview Cemetery
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lake View Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #82692 <4>
• Vermilion Lake Cemetery
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Vermilion Lake Cemetery
• Rauha Cemetery
  (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rauha Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rauha Cemetery
• Bassett Cemetery
  (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bassett Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bassett Cemetery
• Continue List   (11 more) ...
  • West Pike Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Pike Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Pike Cemetery
  • Florenton Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Florenton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Florenton Cemetery
  • Toimi Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Toimi Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Toimi 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>

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

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

• Hinsdale
  (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hinsdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinsdale
  • Hinsdale is located in Saint Louis County
• Soudan
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Soudan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soudan
  • Soudan is located in Saint Louis County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Soudan <2>
• Tower Junction
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tower Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Junction
  • Tower Junction is located in Saint Louis County
• Tower
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower
  • Tower is located in Saint Louis County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 477 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tower <2>
• Ely
  (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ely have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ely
  • Ely is located in Saint Louis County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,325 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ely <2>
• Midway
  (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Midway have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
  • Midway is located in Saint Louis County

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

Off-the-Road Links ...

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

The official website for Saint Louis County: www.co.st-louis.mn.us/

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