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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 Upsala (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 Upsala. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.

Upsala is located in Morrison 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 Morrison County: Benton, Cass, Crow Wing, Mille Lacs, Stearns & Todd.

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

  • Morrison County     (The home county of Upsala)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Upsala, with the one closest to Upsala listed first.
    • Elmdale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elmdale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmdale
      • Elmdale is located in Morrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Elmdale
      • From Upsala to Elmdale
    • Bowlus
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Sobieski
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sobieski have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sobieski
      • Sobieski is located in Morrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 194 people
    • Swanville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • North Prairie
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Flensburg
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Royalton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Little Falls
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Randall
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Belle Prairie
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Cushing
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Buckman
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buckman have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckman
      • Buckman is located in Morrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
  • Benton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Upsala, with the one closest to Upsala listed first.
    • Rice
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rice have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice
      • Rice is located in Benton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,401 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rice <2>
    • Watab
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Evergreen Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evergreen Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Village
      • Evergreen Village is located in Benton County
    • Sauk Rapids
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Gilman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gilman have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilman
      • Gilman is located in Benton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilman <2>
  • Crow Wing County
  • Douglas County
  • Kandiyohi County
    • Regal
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Regal have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regal
      • Regal is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35 people
  • Pope County
  • Stearns County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Upsala, with the one closest to Upsala listed first.
    • Holdingford
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holdingford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holdingford
      • Holdingford is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 725 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holdingford <2>
    • Saint Anthony
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Anthony have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Anthony
      • Saint Anthony is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 91 people
    • Saint Rosa
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Rosa have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Rosa
      • Saint Rosa is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
    • Opole
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Opole. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opole
      • Opole is located in Stearns County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Opole
      • From Upsala to Opole
    • Freeport
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeport have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
      • Freeport is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 671 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeport <2>
    • Albany
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Saint Wendel
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Avon
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Melrose
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • New Munich
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Munich have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Munich
      • New Munich is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 330 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Munich <2>
    • Saint Stephen
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Stephen have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Stephen
      • Saint Stephen is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 867 people
    • Collegeville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Todd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Upsala, with the one closest to Upsala listed first.
    • Burtrum
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Grey Eagle
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Pillsbury
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pillsbury. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pillsbury
      • Pillsbury is located in Todd County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pillsbury
      • From Upsala to Pillsbury
    • Long Prairie
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Prairie
      • Long Prairie is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,297 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Long Prairie <2>
    • Browerville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Browerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browerville
      • Browerville is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
    • West Union
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Union have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Union
      • West Union is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
    • Clotho
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Clarissa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarissa have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarissa
      • Clarissa is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 651 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clarissa <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Upsala ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Upsala.

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 Upsala covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Gethsemane Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gethsemane Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gethsemane Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Covenant Church Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Covenant Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Covenant Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Upsala Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Upsala Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Upsala Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Francis Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Francis Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Francis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Danish Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Danish Lutheran Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Danish Lutheran Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Free Evangelical Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Free Evangelical Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Free Evangelical Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Edward's Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Edward's Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Edward's Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Swedish Mission Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Swedish Mission Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Swedish Mission Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old St. Marys Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old St. Marys Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Mary Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • St. Peters Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Peters Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Peters Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (173 more) ...
    • St. Johns Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • 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.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Marys Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Highland Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highland Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Highland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Upsala had a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Upsala had a population of 420 people.

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

  • Elmdale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elmdale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmdale
    • Elmdale is located in Morrison County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Elmdale
    • From Upsala to Elmdale
  • Burtrum
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Holdingford
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holdingford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holdingford
    • Holdingford is located in Stearns County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 725 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holdingford <2>
  • Swanville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Grey Eagle
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Opole
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Opole. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opole
    • Opole is located in Stearns County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Opole
    • From Upsala to Opole
  • North Prairie
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Pillsbury
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pillsbury. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pillsbury
    • Pillsbury is located in Todd County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Pillsbury
    • From Upsala to Pillsbury
  • Freeport
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeport have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
    • Freeport is located in Stearns County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 671 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeport <2>
  • Saint Anna
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Anna have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Anna
    • Saint Anna is located in Stearns County
  • Albany
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Saint Wendel
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Royalton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Gregory
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gregory have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
      • Gregory is located in Morrison County
    • Spaulding
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spaulding have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spaulding
      • Spaulding is located in Todd County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Upsala ...

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 47 newspapers that have been published in the area around Upsala.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Upsala. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Upsala and those printed in the larger area surrounding Upsala.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5> of Upsala.

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 either 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 Upsala:

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

The official website for Morrison County: www.co.morrison.mn.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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.
<5>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 from Point A (ie- Upsala) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Upsala. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.8074, Longitude: -94.5714    
<6>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 Upsala, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025