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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 Town Lake Estates (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 Town Lake Estates. 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 Town Lake Estates ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Town Lake Estates: Town Lk. Ests.

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

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 north 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.

Town Lake Estates is located in Becker 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 Becker County: Clay, Clearwater, Hubbard, Mahnomen, Norman, Otter Tail & Wadena.

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

  • Becker County     (The home county of Town Lake Estates)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Town Lake Estates, with the one closest to Town Lake Estates listed first.
    • Frazee
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Rochert
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Detroit Lakes
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Bucks Mill
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Bucks Mill is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Mill
    • Evergreen
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Evergreen is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
    • Audubon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Wolf Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Wolf Lake is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
    • Richwood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Richwood is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwood
    • Cormorant
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Cormorant is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cormorant
    • Callaway
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Park
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Pine Point
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Pine Point is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Point
    • Ponsford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Town Lake Estates, with the one closest to Town Lake Estates listed first.
    • Rollag
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Rollag is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollag
    • Hawley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Otter Tail County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Town Lake Estates, with the one closest to Town Lake Estates listed first.
    • Vergas
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Perham
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Perham is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,638 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perham <1>
    • Dent
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Dent is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dent
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 185 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dent <1>
    • Richville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Davies
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Davies is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davies
    • Amor
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
    • Ottertail
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • New York Mills
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Pelican Rapids
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Maine
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Maine is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
    • Edwards
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Edwards is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
    • Leaf City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Leaf City is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaf City
    • Erhard
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Wadena County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Town Lake Estates, with the one closest to Town Lake Estates listed first.
    • Menahga
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Sebeka
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Town Lake Estates ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Town Lake Estates.

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

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

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

  • Lakeside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Chilton Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Fairy Lake Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Dretsch Family Memorial Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Schrams Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Vergas Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Gorman Twp. Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Flatau Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Sybil Lake Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Memorial Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (181 more) ...
    • Mennonite Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Lakeview Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Bauck Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 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>

While we didn't find Town Lake Estates in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Town Lake Estates.

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

  • Frazee
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Luce
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Luce is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luce
  • Perham
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Perham is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perham
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,638 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perham <1>
  • Bucks Mill
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Bucks Mill is located in Becker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Mill
  • Audubon
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Richwood
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Richwood is located in Becker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwood
  • Cormorant
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Cormorant is located in Becker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cormorant
  • Davies
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Davies is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davies
  • Pelican Rapids
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Amor
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
  • Ottertail
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • New York Mills
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Lake Park
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Maine
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Maine is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
    • Edwards
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Edwards is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards

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

Newspapers Published in Town Lake Estates ...

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 56 newspapers that have been published in the area around Town Lake Estates.

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

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Town Lake Estates:

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 Town Lake Estates, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Town Lake Estates) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.