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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 Ryan (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 Ryan. 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 and doctors 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.

Ryan is located in Goodhue 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 Goodhue County: Dakota, Dodge, Olmsted, Rice, Wabasha, Pepin (WI) & Pierce (WI).

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

  • Goodhue County     (The home county of Ryan)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ryan, with the one closest to Ryan listed first.
    • Belle Creek
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Belle Creek is located in Goodhue County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Creek
    • White Rock
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • White Rock is located in Goodhue County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Rock
    • Goodhue
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Hader
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Hader is located in Goodhue County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hader
    • Zumbrota
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Wanamingo
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Bellechester
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Bellechester is located in Goodhue County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellechester
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 177 people
    • Welch
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Cannon Falls
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Red Wing
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Roscoe
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Roscoe is located in Goodhue County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscoe
    • Wangs
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Wangs is located in Goodhue County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wangs
  • Dakota County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ryan, with the one closest to Ryan listed first.
    • Miesville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • New Trier
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • New Trier is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Trier
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 106 people
    • Randolph
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Randolph is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
    • Hampton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Vermillion
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Waterford
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Waterford is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterford
    • Hastings
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Castle Rock
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Castle Rock is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Rock
    • Nininger
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Nininger is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nininger
    • Coates
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Coates is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coates
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
    • Farmington
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Eureka Center
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Eureka Center is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka Center
  • Dodge County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ryan, with the one closest to Ryan listed first.
    • Concord
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Concord is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
    • West Concord
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Mantorville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Kasson
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Dodge Center
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Claremont
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Olmsted County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ryan, with the one closest to Ryan listed first.
    • Oronoco
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Genoa
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Genoa is located in Olmsted County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genoa
    • Post Town
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Post Town is located in Olmsted County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Post Town
    • Potsdam
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Potsdam is located in Olmsted County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potsdam
    • Byron
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Byron is located in Olmsted County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byron
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,691 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Byron <1>
    • Rochester
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Rice County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ryan, with the one closest to Ryan listed first.
    • Nerstrand
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Northfield
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Moland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Moland is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moland
    • Dundas
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Cannon City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Cannon City is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon City
    • Walcott
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Walcott is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walcott
    • Faribault
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Millersburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Millersburg is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersburg
  • Steele County
    • Rice Lake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Rice Lake is located in Steele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Lake
  • Wabasha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ryan, with the one closest to Ryan listed first.
    • Mazeppa
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Zumbro Falls
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Hammond
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Hammond is located in Wabasha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammond
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 167 people
    • Jarrett
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jarrett is located in Wabasha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jarrett
    • Millville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Washington County
    • Cottage Grove
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Pepin County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ryan, with the one closest to Ryan listed first.
    • Stockholm
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Stockholm is located in Pepin County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockholm
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
    • Lakeport
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Lakeport is located in Pepin County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeport
    • Lund
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Lund is located in Pepin County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lund
    • Barry Corner
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Barry Corner is located in Pepin County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barry Corner
    • Pepin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Pepin is located in Pepin County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pepin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 747 people
  • Pierce County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ryan, with the one closest to Ryan listed first.
    • Hager City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Hager City is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hager City
    • Bay City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Bay City is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 488 people
    • Moeville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Moeville is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moeville
    • Prescott
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Prescott is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescott
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,279 people
    • Trimbelle
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Trimbelle is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trimbelle
    • Maiden Rock
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Maiden Rock is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maiden Rock
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 119 people
    • Ellsworth
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Ellsworth is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellsworth
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,272 people
    • Beldenville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Beldenville is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beldenville
    • Morton Corner
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Morton Corner is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morton Corner
    • Plum City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Plum City is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 603 people
    • River Falls
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • River Falls is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Falls
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,306 people
    • El Paso
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • El Paso is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Paso

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

Cemeteries Near Ryan ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ryan.

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

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

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

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>

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

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

  • Belle Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Belle Creek is located in Goodhue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Creek
  • White Rock
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • White Rock is located in Goodhue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Rock
  • Goodhue
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Claybank
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Claybank is located in Goodhue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claybank
  • Hader
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hader is located in Goodhue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hader
  • White Willow
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • White Willow is located in Goodhue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Willow
  • Vasa
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Vasa is located in Goodhue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vasa
  • Wastedo
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Wastedo is located in Goodhue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wastedo
  • Wanamingo
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Zumbrota
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Forest Mills
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Forest Mills is located in Goodhue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Mills
  • Hay Creek
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Hay Creek is located in Goodhue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hay Creek
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Bellechester
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Bellechester is located in Goodhue County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellechester
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 177 people
    • Belvidere Mills
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Belvidere Mills is located in Goodhue County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belvidere Mills
    • Welch
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Ryan ...

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 39 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ryan.

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

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Ryan:

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 Ryan, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ryan) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.