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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 Urbank (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 Urbank. 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 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.

Urbank is located in Otter Tail 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 Otter Tail County: Becker, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Todd, Wadena & Wilkin.

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

  • Otter Tail County     (The home county of Urbank)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Urbank, with the one closest to Urbank listed first.
    • Parkers Prairie
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Vining
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Nirvana
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Nirvana is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nirvana
    • Clitherall
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Henning
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Battle Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Leaf City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Leaf City is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaf City
    • Dalton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Ottertail
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Deer Creek
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Deer Creek is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 321 people
    • Underwood
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Amor
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Urbank, with the one closest to Urbank listed first.
    • Millerville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Millerville is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
    • Brandon
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Miltona
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Evansville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Melby
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Melby is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melby
    • Garfield
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Carlos
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Rose City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Rose City is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose City
    • Belle River
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Belle River is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle River
    • Alexandria
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Holmes City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Holmes City is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes City
    • Nelson
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Nelson is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 192 people
  • Grant County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Urbank, with the one closest to Urbank listed first.
    • Ashby
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Erdahl
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Erdahl is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erdahl
    • Thorsborg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Thorsborg is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorsborg
    • Barrett
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Barrett is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrett
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 414 people
    • Elbow Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Hoffman
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Wendell
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Pope County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Urbank, with the one closest to Urbank listed first.
    • Farwell
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Farwell is located in Pope County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farwell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 52 people
    • Lowry
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Villard
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Todd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Urbank, with the one closest to Urbank listed first.
    • Eagle Bend
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Clotho
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Clotho is located in Todd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clotho
    • Bertha
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Hewitt
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Hewitt is located in Todd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hewitt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
    • Clarissa
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • West Union
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • West Union is located in Todd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Union
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
  • Wadena County
    • Verndale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Urbank ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Urbank.

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 Urbank - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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 Urbank in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Urbank.

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

  • Millerville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Millerville is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
  • Leaf Valley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Leaf Valley is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaf Valley
  • Parkers Prairie
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Vining
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Melby
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Melby is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melby
  • Evansville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Brandon
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Miltona
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Clitherall
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Garfield
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Henning
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Battle Lake
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Ashby
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Belle River
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Belle River is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle River
    • Erdahl
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Erdahl is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erdahl

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

Newspapers Published in Urbank ...

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 32 newspapers that have been published in the area around Urbank.

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

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 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 Urbank:

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 Urbank, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Urbank) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.