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.

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 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 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.

Town Lake Estates is located in Becker 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 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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frazee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frazee
    • Frazee is located in Becker County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,381 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Frazee <2>
  • Detroit Lakes
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Detroit Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Detroit Lakes
    • Detroit Lakes is located in Becker County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,255 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Detroit Lakes <2>
  • Rochert
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rochert have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochert
    • Rochert is located in Becker County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rochert <2>
  • Bucks Mill
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bucks Mill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Mill
    • Bucks Mill is located in Becker County
  • Evergreen
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
    • Evergreen is located in Becker County
  • Audubon
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Audubon
    • Audubon is located in Becker County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 517 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Audubon <2>
  • Wolf Lake
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolf Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Lake
    • Wolf Lake is located in Becker County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
  • Richwood
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwood
    • Richwood is located in Becker County
  • Cormorant
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cormorant
    • Cormorant is located in Becker County
  • Callaway
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Callaway have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Callaway
    • Callaway is located in Becker County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 227 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Callaway <2>
  • Lake Park
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Park
    • Lake Park is located in Becker County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 787 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Park <2>
  • Pine Point
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Point
    • Pine Point is located in Becker County
  • Ponsford
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ponsford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponsford
    • Ponsford is located in Becker County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ponsford <2>
• 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)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rollag. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollag
    • Rollag is located in Clay County
  • Hawley
    (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hawley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawley
    • Hawley is located in Clay County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,210 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hawley <2>
• 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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vergas have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vergas
    • Vergas is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 354 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vergas <2>
  • Perham
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Perham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perham
    • Perham is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,638 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perham <2>
  • Dent
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dent have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dent
    • Dent is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 185 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dent <2>
  • Richville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richville
    • Richville is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richville <2>
  • Davies
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Davies. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davies
    • Davies is located in Otter Tail County
  • Amor
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Amor. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
    • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
  • Ottertail
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ottertail have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottertail
    • Ottertail is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 660 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ottertail <2>
  • New York Mills
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New York Mills
    • New York Mills is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,220 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New York Mills <2>
  • Pelican Rapids
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelican Rapids
    • Pelican Rapids is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,634 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pelican Rapids <2>
  • Maine
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Maine. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
    • Maine is located in Otter Tail County
  • Edwards
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
    • Edwards is located in Otter Tail County
  • Leaf City
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leaf City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaf City
    • Leaf City is located in Otter Tail County
  • Erhard
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Erhard have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erhard
    • Erhard is located in Otter Tail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 145 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Erhard <2>
• 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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Menahga have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menahga
    • Menahga is located in Wadena County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,307 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Menahga <2>
  • Sebeka
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sebeka have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sebeka
    • Sebeka is located in Wadena County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 668 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sebeka <2>

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.

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 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)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeside Cemetery
• Sacred Heart Cemetery
  (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sacred Heart Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sacred Heart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Chilton Cemetery
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chilton Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chilton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Fairy Lake Cemetery
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairy Lake Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairy Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Dretsch Family Memorial Cemetery
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dretsch Family Memorial Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dretsch Family Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Schrams Cemetery
  (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Schrams Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Schrams Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Vergas Cemetery
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Vergas Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Vergas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Gorman Twp. Cemetery
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gorman Twp. Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gorman Twp. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• St. Johns Cemetery
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Flatau Cemetery
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Flatau Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Flatau Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Sybil Lake Cemetery
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sybil Lake Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sybil Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Memorial Cemetery
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Memorial Cemetery
• Continue List   (181 more) ...
  • Mennonite Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mennonite Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mennonite Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakeview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bauck Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bauck Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bauck Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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>

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)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frazee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frazee
  • Frazee is located in Becker County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,381 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Frazee <2>
• Luce
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Luce have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luce
  • Luce is located in Otter Tail County
• Perham
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Perham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perham
  • Perham is located in Otter Tail County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,638 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perham <2>
• Bucks Mill
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bucks Mill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Mill
  • Bucks Mill is located in Becker County
• Audubon
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Audubon
  • Audubon is located in Becker County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 517 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Audubon <2>
• Richwood
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwood
  • Richwood is located in Becker County
• Cormorant
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cormorant
  • Cormorant is located in Becker County
• Davies
  (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Davies. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davies
  • Davies is located in Otter Tail County
• Pelican Rapids
  (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelican Rapids
  • Pelican Rapids is located in Otter Tail County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,634 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pelican Rapids <2>
• Amor
  (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Amor. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
  • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
• Ottertail
  (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ottertail have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottertail
  • Ottertail is located in Otter Tail County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 660 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ottertail <2>
• New York Mills
  (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New York Mills
  • New York Mills is located in Otter Tail County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,220 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New York Mills <2>
• Continue List   (13 more) ...
  • Lake Park
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Park
    • Lake Park is located in Becker County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 787 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Park <2>
  • Maine
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Maine. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
    • Maine is located in Otter Tail County
  • Edwards
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
    • Edwards is located in Otter Tail County

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]<5>. 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 begin 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:

• Websites specific to Minnesota
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Website for the Minnesota State Archives

• Pages specific to Becker County
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Genealogy information for nearby counties
  • Clay County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Otter Tail County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Wadena County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Cemetery Information and Directories for Minnesota
  • Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of Minnesota
  • Cyndi's List
  • Cemeteries of Minnesota
  • Cemeteries of Becker County
  • FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of Minnesota
  • Find-A-Grave: Home Page
  • Interment.net
  • Cemeteries of Minnesota
  • Cemeteries of Becker County

Off-the-Road Links ...

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

The official website for Becker County: www.co.becker.mn.us/

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