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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 Sundal (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 Sundal. 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 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.

Sundal is located in Norman 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 Norman County: Becker, Clay, Mahnomen, Polk, Cass (ND) & Traill (ND).

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

  • Norman County     (The home county of Sundal)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sundal, with the one closest to Sundal listed first.
    • Flaming
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Flaming is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flaming
    • Rindal
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Rindal is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rindal
    • Gary
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Faith
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Faith is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faith
    • Twin Valley
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Twin Valley is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 750 people
    • Ada
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Ada is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,556 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ada <1>
    • Flom
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Borup
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Borup is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borup
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
    • Shelly
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Shelly is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
    • Halstad
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Becker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sundal, with the one closest to Sundal listed first.
    • Ogema
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Ogema is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogema
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 183 people
    • White Earth
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sundal, with the one closest to Sundal listed first.
    • Ulen
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Felton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Mahnomen County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sundal, with the one closest to Sundal listed first.
    • Bejou
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Mahnomen
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Waubun
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Naytahwaush
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sundal, with the one closest to Sundal listed first.
    • Fertile
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Winger
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Melvin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Melvin is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
    • Mentor
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Erskine
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Beltrami
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Beltrami is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
    • Dugdale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Dugdale is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale
    • McIntosh
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Fosston
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Gentilly
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Gentilly is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly
    • Lengby
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Lengby is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lengby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
    • Crookston
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Nielsville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Nielsville is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nielsville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
  • Red Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sundal, with the one closest to Sundal listed first.
    • Brooks
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Brooks is located in Red Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 136 people
    • Red Lake Falls
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near Sundal ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sundal.

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

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

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

  • Sundal Lutheran Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • International Order of Good Templars Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • St. John's Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Norman Lutheran Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Old Sundal Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Zion Norwegian Lutheran Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Faaberg Norwegian Lutheran Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Ness Lutheran Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Petri Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Concordia Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (156 more) ...
    • Gary Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Little Norway Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Spring Creek Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)

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

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

  • Rindal
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Rindal is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rindal
  • Gary
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Fertile
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Winger
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Heiberg
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Heiberg is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heiberg
  • Faith
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Faith is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faith
  • Maple Bay
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Maple Bay is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bay
  • Twin Valley
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Twin Valley is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Valley
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 750 people
  • Melvin
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Melvin is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
  • Fossum
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Fossum is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fossum
  • Erskine
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Mentor
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Beltrami
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Beltrami is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
    • Lockhart
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Lockhart is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockhart
    • Dugdale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Dugdale is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale

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

Newspapers Published in Sundal ...

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 31 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sundal.

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

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 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 Sundal:

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 Sundal, 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- Sundal) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.