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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 Sandstone (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 Sandstone. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and 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.

Sandstone is located in Pine 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 Pine County: Aitkin, Carlton, Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Burnett (WI), Douglas (WI) & Polk (WI).

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

  • Pine County     (The home county of Sandstone)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sandstone, with the one closest to Sandstone listed first.
    • Askov
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Finlayson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Rutledge
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Rutledge is located in Pine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutledge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 221 people
    • Hinckley
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Cloverdale
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Cloverdale is located in Pine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
    • Willow River
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Bruno
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Bruno is located in Pine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruno
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
    • Beroun
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Beroun is located in Pine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beroun
    • Brook Park
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Brook Park is located in Pine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brook Park
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 132 people
    • Denham
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Denham is located in Pine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 34 people
    • Duxbury
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Duxbury is located in Pine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duxbury
    • Sturgeon Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Kerrick
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Aitkin County
    • McGrath
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Carlton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sandstone, with the one closest to Sandstone listed first.
    • Moose Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Kettle River
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Barnum
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Automba
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Automba is located in Carlton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Automba
  • Kanabec County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sandstone, with the one closest to Sandstone listed first.
    • Quamba
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Quamba is located in Kanabec County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quamba
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 127 people
    • Grasston
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Mora
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Mora is located in Kanabec County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mora
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,583 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mora <1>
  • Mille Lacs County
    • Isle
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Isle is located in Mille Lacs County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isle
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 790 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Isle <1>
  • Burnett County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sandstone, with the one closest to Sandstone listed first.
    • Grantsburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Grantsburg is located in Burnett County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantsburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,296 people
    • Alpha
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Alpha is located in Burnett County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpha
    • Randall
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Randall is located in Burnett County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randall
    • Webster
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Webster is located in Burnett County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 620 people

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

Cemeteries Near Sandstone ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sandstone.

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

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

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

  • Spring Park Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Dell Grove Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Evergreen Memorial Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Bethlehem Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Finnish Lutheran Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Peace Lutheran Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Rose Hill Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Lutheran Memorial Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Vilstad Lutheran Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (89 more) ...
    • Mission Creek Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Danforth Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Clover Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)

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 Sandstone had a population of 517 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Sandstone had a population of 2,554 people.

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

  • Finlayson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Hinckley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Mission Creek
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Mission Creek is located in Pine County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Creek
  • Willow River
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Sturgeon Lake
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Kerrick
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Pine City
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Moose Lake
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Rock Creek
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
  • Grantsburg
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Grantsburg is located in Burnett County (WI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantsburg
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,296 people
  • Mora
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Mora is located in Kanabec County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mora
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,583 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mora <1>
  • Barnum
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Grass Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Grass Lake is located in Kanabec County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grass Lake
    • Randall
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Randall is located in Burnett County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randall
    • Opstead
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Opstead is located in Mille Lacs County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opstead

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Sandstone ...

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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sandstone.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Sandstone. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Sandstone and those printed in the larger area surrounding Sandstone.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3> of Sandstone.

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 helpful 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 Sandstone:

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