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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 Spring Lake (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 Spring Lake. 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 Spring Lake ...

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 Spring Lake: Spring Lk.

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

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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Spring Lake is located in Scott 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 Scott County: Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Le Sueur, Rice & Sibley.

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

  • Scott County     (The home county of Spring Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Lake, with the one closest to Spring Lake listed first.
    • Prior Lake
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Marystown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Marystown is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marystown
    • Shakopee
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Credit River
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Credit River is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Credit River
    • Savage
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Saint Patrick
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Saint Patrick is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Patrick
    • Cedar Lake
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Cedar Lake is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Lake
    • Jordan
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • New Market
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Elko New Market
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Elko New Market is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elko New Market
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,733 people
    • Elko
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • New Prague
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Anoka County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Lake, with the one closest to Spring Lake listed first.
    • Columbia Heights
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Hilltop
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Hilltop is located in Anoka County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 764 people
    • Fridley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Spring Lake Park
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Carver County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Lake, with the one closest to Spring Lake listed first.
    • Carver
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Chaska
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Chanhassen
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Dahlgren
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Dahlgren is located in Carver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dahlgren
    • Hazeltine
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Hazeltine is located in Carver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazeltine
    • Victoria
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Gotha
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Gotha is located in Carver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gotha
    • Cologne
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Waconia
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Assumption
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Assumption is located in Carver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Assumption
    • Hydes Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Hydes Lake is located in Carver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hydes Lake
    • Norwood Young America
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Norwood Young America is located in Carver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood Young America
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,794 people
  • Dakota County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Lake, with the one closest to Spring Lake listed first.
    • Burnsville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Lakeville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Apple Valley
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Nicols
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Nicols is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicols
    • Eureka Center
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Eureka Center is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka Center
    • Farmington
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Eagan
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Eagan is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 65,975 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eagan <1>
    • Castle Rock
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Castle Rock is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Rock
    • Rosemount
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Mendota Heights
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Mendota
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Coates
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Coates is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coates
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
  • Goodhue County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Lake, with the one closest to Spring Lake listed first.
    • Stanton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Stanton is located in Goodhue County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanton
    • Dennison
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Cannon Falls
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Hennepin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Lake, with the one closest to Spring Lake listed first.
    • Eden Prairie
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Bloomington
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Edina
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Edina is located in Hennepin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edina
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 52,477 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edina <1>
    • Excelsior
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Greenwood
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Greenwood is located in Hennepin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 937 people
    • Deephaven
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Hopkins
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Minnetonka
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Shorewood
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Richfield
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Tonka Bay
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Tonka Bay is located in Hennepin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tonka Bay
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,551 people
    • Minnetonka Mills
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Minnetonka Mills is located in Hennepin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minnetonka Mills
  • Le Sueur County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Lake, with the one closest to Spring Lake listed first.
    • Heidelberg
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Heidelberg is located in Le Sueur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heidelberg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 122 people
    • Montgomery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Saint Thomas
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Saint Thomas is located in Le Sueur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Thomas
    • Lexington
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Lexington is located in Le Sueur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington
    • Le Center
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Cordova
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Cordova is located in Le Sueur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cordova
    • Kilkenny
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Le Sueur
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • McLeod County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Lake, with the one closest to Spring Lake listed first.
    • Plato
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Lester Prairie
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Ramsey County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Lake, with the one closest to Spring Lake listed first.
    • Lauderdale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Lauderdale is located in Ramsey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lauderdale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,484 people
    • Falcon Heights
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Saint Paul
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Highwood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Highwood is located in Ramsey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highwood
    • Roseville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • New Brighton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Little Canada
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Arden Hills
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Cardigan Junction
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Cardigan Junction is located in Ramsey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardigan Junction
    • Mounds View
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Shoreview
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Vadnais Heights
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Rice County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Lake, with the one closest to Spring Lake listed first.
    • Webster
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Lonsdale
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Trondjem
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Trondjem is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trondjem
    • Wheatland
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Wheatland is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatland
    • Millersburg
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Millersburg is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersburg
    • Northfield
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Dundas
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Cannon City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Cannon City is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon City
    • Faribault
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Sibley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Lake, with the one closest to Spring Lake listed first.
    • Henderson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Green Isle
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Lake, with the one closest to Spring Lake listed first.
    • Saint Paul Park
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Newport
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Cottage Grove
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Landfall
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Landfall is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landfall
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 733 people
    • Woodbury
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Wright County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Lake, with the one closest to Spring Lake listed first.
    • Delano
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Rockford
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Spring Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Spring Lake.

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 Spring Lake - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • St. Michaels Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • St. Pauls Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Concord Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Fish Lake Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Catholic Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • St. Catherine Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Glendale Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Valley Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • St. Marks Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (287 more) ...
    • St. Patrick Catholic Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • St. John the Baptist Catholic Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Bloomington Ferry Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)

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 Spring Lake in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Spring Lake.

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

  • Prior Lake
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Marystown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Marystown is located in Scott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marystown
  • Lydia
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Lydia is located in Scott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lydia
  • Credit River
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Credit River is located in Scott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Credit River
  • Shakopee
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Barden
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Barden is located in Scott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barden
  • Merriam
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Merriam is located in Scott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merriam
  • Saint Patrick
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Saint Patrick is located in Scott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Patrick
  • Bloomington Ferry
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Bloomington Ferry is located in Hennepin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomington Ferry
  • Jordan
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Cedar Lake
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Lake is located in Scott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Lake
  • Chaska
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Carver
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • New Market
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Rowland
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Rowland is located in Hennepin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowland

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

Newspapers Published in Spring Lake ...

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 303 newspapers that have been published in the area around Spring Lake.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Spring Lake, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Spring Lake.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Spring Lake:

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