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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 Thief River Falls (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 Thief River Falls. 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 Thief River Falls ...

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 Thief River Falls: Thief Riv. Falls

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

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 doctors 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.

Thief River Falls is located in Pennington County and is the County Seat.

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 Pennington County: Beltrami, Clearwater, Marshall, Polk & Red Lake.

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

  • Pennington County     (The home county of Thief River Falls)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thief River Falls, with the one closest to Thief River Falls listed first.
    • Saint Hilaire
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Saint Hilaire is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Hilaire
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 258 people
    • Goodridge
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Goodridge is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodridge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
    • Erie
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Erie is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thief River Falls, with the one closest to Thief River Falls listed first.
    • Holt
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Holt is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
    • Viking
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Viking is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viking
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 96 people
    • Newfolden
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Newfolden is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newfolden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 363 people
    • Middle River
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Espelie
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Espelie is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Espelie
    • Gatzke
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Gatzke is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gatzke
    • Grygla
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Strandquist
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Warren
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thief River Falls, with the one closest to Thief River Falls listed first.
    • Euclid
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Euclid is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euclid
    • Gentilly
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Gentilly is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly
    • Shirley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Shirley is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
    • Dugdale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Dugdale is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale
    • Mentor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Crookston
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Red Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thief River Falls, with the one closest to Thief River Falls listed first.
    • Plummer
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Plummer is located in Red Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plummer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 289 people
    • Red Lake Falls
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Dorothy
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Dorothy is located in Red Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorothy
    • Brooks
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Brooks is located in Red Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 136 people
    • Oklee
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Roseau County
    • Strathcona
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Strathcona is located in Roseau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strathcona
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 41 people

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

Cemeteries Near Thief River Falls ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Thief River Falls.

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 Thief River Falls - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • St. Bernard Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Silver Creek Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Silverton Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Norden Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • St. Pauli Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Emanuel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Norden Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • St. Hilaire Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Bethlehem Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Wildwood Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (109 more) ...
    • Rux Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Bethania Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Satersdal Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)

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>

While we didn't find Thief River Falls in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Thief River Falls.

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

  • Holt
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Holt is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
  • Viking
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Viking is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viking
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 96 people
  • Foldahl
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Foldahl is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foldahl
  • Euclid
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Euclid is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euclid
  • Angus
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Gentilly
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Gentilly is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly
  • Shirley
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Shirley is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
  • Dugdale
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Dugdale is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale
  • Mentor
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Warren
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Burwell
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Burwell is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burwell

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

Newspapers Published in Thief River Falls ...

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 26 newspapers that have been published in the area around Thief River Falls.

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

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 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 Thief River Falls:

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 Thief River Falls, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Thief River Falls) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.