RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Minnesota >> Itasca County >> Swan River >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Minnesota

The Commemorative Quarter for Minnesota





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 Swan River (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 Swan River. 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 Swan River ...

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 have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Swan River: Swan Riv.

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 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.

Swan River is located in Itasca County.

To see how the shape of Minnesota's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Itasca County: Aitkin, Beltrami, Cass, Koochiching & Saint Louis.

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

  • Itasca County     (The home county of Swan River)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swan River, with the one closest to Swan River listed first.
    • Warba
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warba have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warba
      • Warba is located in Itasca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 186 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Warba <2>
    • Wawina
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wawina have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wawina
      • Wawina is located in Itasca County
    • Goodland
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Goodland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodland
      • Goodland is located in Itasca County
    • Calumet
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Calumet have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calumet
      • Calumet is located in Itasca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 351 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Calumet <2>
    • Pengilly
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pengilly have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pengilly
      • Pengilly is located in Itasca County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pengilly <2>
    • La Prairie
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Prairie
      • La Prairie is located in Itasca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 661 people
    • Marble
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marble have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marble
      • Marble is located in Itasca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 674 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marble <2>
    • Bovey
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bovey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bovey
      • Bovey is located in Itasca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 784 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bovey <2>
    • Coleraine
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coleraine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleraine
      • Coleraine is located in Itasca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,972 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coleraine <2>
    • Grand Rapids
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Taconite
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Taconite have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taconite
      • Taconite is located in Itasca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 629 people
    • Nashwauk
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nashwauk have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashwauk
      • Nashwauk is located in Itasca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 951 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nashwauk <2>
  • Aitkin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swan River, with the one closest to Swan River listed first.
    • Jacobson
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Hill City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hill City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill City
      • Hill City is located in Aitkin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 580 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hill City <2>
    • Libby
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Libby
      • Libby is located in Aitkin County
    • Haypoint
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haypoint
      • Haypoint is located in Aitkin County
    • Swatara
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Swatara have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swatara
      • Swatara is located in Aitkin County
    • Minnewawa
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minnewawa
      • Minnewawa is located in Aitkin County
    • Palisade
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Palisade have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palisade
      • Palisade is located in Aitkin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 169 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Palisade <2>
    • Tamarack
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tamarack have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tamarack
      • Tamarack is located in Aitkin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
  • Carlton County
    • Wright
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wright have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright
      • Wright is located in Carlton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wright <2>
  • Saint Louis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swan River, with the one closest to Swan River listed first.
    • Floodwood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Floodwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floodwood
      • Floodwood is located in Saint Louis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 525 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Floodwood <2>
    • Meadowlands
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadowlands have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowlands
      • Meadowlands is located in Saint Louis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
    • Hibbing
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hibbing
      • Hibbing is located in Saint Louis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,716 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hibbing <2>
    • Ruby Junction
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby Junction
      • Ruby Junction is located in Saint Louis County
    • Alborn
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alborn
      • Alborn is located in Saint Louis County

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

Newspapers Published in Swan River ...

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 Swan River.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Swan River, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Swan River.

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 Swan River:

Cemeteries Near Swan River ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Swan River.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Sago Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sago Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sago Cemetery
  • New Wabana Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Wabana Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Wabana Cemetery
  • Feeley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Feeley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Feeley Cemetery
  • Maple Grove Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Grove Cemetery
  • Cedar Valley Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cedar Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cedar Valley Cemetery
  • Ball Bluff Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ball Bluff Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ball Bluff Cemetery
  • Trout Lake Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trout Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trout Lake Cemetery
  • Blackberry Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blackberry Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blackberry Cemetery
  • Trout Lake Norwegian Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trout Lake Norwegian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trout Lake Norwegian Cemetery
  • Harris Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Harris Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Harris Cemetery
  • Heavirland Family Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Heavirland Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Heavirland Family Cemetery
  • Forest Hill Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Hill Cemetery
  • Continue List   (44 more) ...
    • Verdon Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Verdon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Verdon Cemetery
    • Floodwood Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Floodwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Floodwood Cemetery
    • Rose Hill Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rose Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rose Hill Cemetery

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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Swan River had a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Wawina
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wawina have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wawina
    • Wawina is located in Itasca County
  • Island
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Island have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island
    • Island is located in Saint Louis County
  • Blackberry
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blackberry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackberry
    • Blackberry is located in Itasca County
  • La Prairie
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Prairie
    • La Prairie is located in Itasca County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 661 people
  • Floodwood
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Floodwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floodwood
    • Floodwood is located in Saint Louis County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 525 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Floodwood <2>
  • Grand Rapids
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Libby
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Libby
    • Libby is located in Aitkin County
  • Cohasset
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cohasset have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cohasset
    • Cohasset is located in Itasca County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,739 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cohasset <2>
  • Wright
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wright have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright
    • Wright is located in Carlton County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wright <2>

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Swan River. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Itasca County: www.co.itasca.mn.us/

The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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- Swan River) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Swan River. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.0866, Longitude: -93.1949       In this case, the coordinates for Swan River have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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 Swan River, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024