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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 Saint Nicholas (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 Saint Nicholas. 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 Saint Nicholas ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Saint Nicholas: St. Nicholas

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

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Saint Nicholas is located in Stearns 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 Stearns County: Benton, Douglas, Kandiyohi, Meeker, Morrison, Pope, Sherburne, Todd & Wright.

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

  • Stearns County     (The home county of Saint Nicholas)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Saint Nicholas, with the one closest to Saint Nicholas listed first.
    • Cold Spring
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Richmond
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Rockville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Kimball Prairie
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Kimball Prairie is located in Stearns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimball Prairie
    • Kimball
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Pleasant Lake
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Pleasant Lake is located in Stearns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Lake
    • Roscoe
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Fairhaven
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Fairhaven is located in Stearns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairhaven
    • Saint Augusta
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Saint Augusta is located in Stearns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Augusta
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,900 people
    • Saint Joseph
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Paynesville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Saint Martin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Avon
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Avon is located in Stearns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,652 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Avon <1>
  • Benton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Saint Nicholas, with the one closest to Saint Nicholas listed first.
    • Sauk Rapids
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Evergreen Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Evergreen Village is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Village
    • Watab
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Watab is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watab
    • Rice
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Rice is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,401 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rice <1>
    • Duelm
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Duelm is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duelm
  • Kandiyohi County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Saint Nicholas, with the one closest to Saint Nicholas listed first.
    • Hawick
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Hawick is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawick
    • Regal
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Regal is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regal
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35 people
    • Atwater
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • New London
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Spicer
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Spicer is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spicer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,224 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spicer <1>
    • Kandiyohi
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Kandiyohi is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kandiyohi
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 477 people
  • Meeker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Saint Nicholas, with the one closest to Saint Nicholas listed first.
    • Watkins
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Eden Valley
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Forest City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Forest City is located in Meeker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
    • Manannah
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Manannah is located in Meeker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manannah
    • Kingston
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Kingston is located in Meeker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 162 people
    • Litchfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Darwin
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Grove City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Dassel
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Rosendale
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Rosendale is located in Meeker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosendale
    • Cedar Mills
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Cedar Mills is located in Meeker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Mills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 51 people
  • Morrison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Saint Nicholas, with the one closest to Saint Nicholas listed first.
    • North Prairie
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • North Prairie is located in Morrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Prairie
    • Bowlus
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Upsala
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Sherburne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Saint Nicholas, with the one closest to Saint Nicholas listed first.
    • Cable
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Cable is located in Sherburne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cable
    • Clear Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Becker
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Becker is located in Sherburne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Becker
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,033 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Becker <1>
    • Salida
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Salida is located in Sherburne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salida
  • Wright County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Saint Nicholas, with the one closest to Saint Nicholas listed first.
    • South Haven
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Annandale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Clearwater
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Hasty
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Hasty is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hasty
    • Silver Creek
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Silver Creek is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
    • Albion Center
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Albion Center is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion Center
    • Albright
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Albright is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albright
    • Maple Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Cokato
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Rassat
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Rassat is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rassat
    • Smith Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Smith Lake is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Lake
    • Howard Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Buffalo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Saint Nicholas ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Saint Nicholas.

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 Saint Nicholas - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • St. Nicholas Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Old St. Nicholas Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Old Eden Lake Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • St. Boniface Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Assumption Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Eden Lake Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • St.s Peter & Paul Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Peters Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Annes Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Kimball Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Jacobs Prairie Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (188 more) ...

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>

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

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

  • Watkins
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Cold Spring
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Eden Valley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Richmond
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Rockville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Kimball Prairie
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Kimball Prairie is located in Stearns County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimball Prairie
  • Luxemburg
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Luxemburg is located in Stearns County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luxemburg
  • Roscoe
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Fairhaven
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Fairhaven is located in Stearns County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairhaven
  • Manannah
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Manannah is located in Meeker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manannah
  • Forest City
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Forest City is located in Meeker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
  • South Haven
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Saint Augusta
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Saint Augusta is located in Stearns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Augusta
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,900 people
    • Farming
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Farming is located in Stearns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farming
    • Saint Joseph
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Saint Nicholas ...

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 88 newspapers that have been published in the area around Saint Nicholas.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Saint Nicholas, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Saint Nicholas.

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 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 Saint Nicholas:

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>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.
<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 Saint Nicholas, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Saint Nicholas) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.