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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 Wangs (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 Wangs. 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.

Wangs is located in Goodhue 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 Goodhue County: Dakota, Dodge, Olmsted, Rice, Wabasha, Pepin (WI) & Pierce (WI).

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

  • Goodhue County     (The home county of Wangs)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wangs, with the one closest to Wangs listed first.
    • Dennison
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Stanton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Stanton is located in Goodhue County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanton
    • Cannon Falls
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Hader
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Hader is located in Goodhue County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hader
    • Kenyon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Belle Creek
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Belle Creek is located in Goodhue County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Creek
    • White Rock
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • White Rock is located in Goodhue County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Rock
    • Wanamingo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Welch
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Roscoe
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Roscoe is located in Goodhue County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscoe
    • Goodhue
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Zumbrota
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Pine Island
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Dakota County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wangs, with the one closest to Wangs listed first.
    • Randolph
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Randolph is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
    • Waterford
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Waterford is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterford
    • Castle Rock
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Castle Rock is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Rock
    • New Trier
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • New Trier is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Trier
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 106 people
    • Hampton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Miesville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Eureka Center
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Eureka Center is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka Center
    • Farmington
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Vermillion
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Coates
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Coates is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coates
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
    • Lakeville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hastings
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Rosemount
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
  • Dodge County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wangs, with the one closest to Wangs listed first.
    • West Concord
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Concord
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Concord is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
    • Claremont
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Dodge Center
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Mantorville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Kasson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Le Sueur County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wangs, with the one closest to Wangs listed first.
    • Montgomery
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Kilkenny
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Olmsted County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wangs, with the one closest to Wangs listed first.
    • Genoa
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Genoa is located in Olmsted County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genoa
    • Oronoco
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Post Town
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Post Town is located in Olmsted County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Post Town
    • Byron
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Byron is located in Olmsted County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byron
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,691 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Byron <1>
  • Rice County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wangs, with the one closest to Wangs listed first.
    • Nerstrand
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Northfield
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Dundas
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Cannon City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Cannon City is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon City
    • Moland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Moland is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moland
    • Walcott
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Walcott is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walcott
    • Faribault
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Millersburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Millersburg is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersburg
    • Webster
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Trondjem
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Trondjem is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trondjem
    • Lonsdale
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Warsaw
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Warsaw is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warsaw
    • Wheatland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Wheatland is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatland
  • Scott County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wangs, with the one closest to Wangs listed first.
    • Elko New Market
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Elko New Market is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elko New Market
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,733 people
    • Elko
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • New Market
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedar Lake
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Cedar Lake is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Lake
    • Credit River
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Credit River is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Credit River
    • Saint Patrick
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Saint Patrick is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Patrick
    • Prior Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Savage
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • New Prague
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Steele County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wangs, with the one closest to Wangs listed first.
    • Rice Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Rice Lake is located in Steele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Lake
    • Medford
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Medford is located in Steele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,255 people
    • Havana
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Havana is located in Steele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
    • Owatonna
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Pratt
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Pratt is located in Steele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt
  • Wabasha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wangs, with the one closest to Wangs listed first.
    • Mazeppa
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Zumbro Falls
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wangs, with the one closest to Wangs listed first.
    • Cottage Grove
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Saint Paul Park
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Pierce County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wangs, with the one closest to Wangs listed first.
    • Prescott
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Prescott is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescott
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,279 people
    • Hager City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Hager City is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hager City
    • Bay City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Bay City is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 488 people
    • Moeville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Moeville is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moeville
    • Trimbelle
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Trimbelle is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trimbelle

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

Cemeteries Near Wangs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wangs.

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

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

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

  • Wangs Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Wangen Prairie Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • German Methodist Episcopal Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Eidsvold Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Urland Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Oxford Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Nerstrand Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Knoll Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Little Cannon Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Prairie Creek Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Wheeling Evangelical Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Old Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (243 more) ...

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Wangs had a population of 49 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Dennison
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Stanton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Stanton is located in Goodhue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanton
  • Nerstrand
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Wastedo
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Wastedo is located in Goodhue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wastedo
  • Randolph
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Randolph is located in Dakota County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
  • Cannon Falls
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Kenyon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Hader
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Hader is located in Goodhue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hader
  • Waterford
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Waterford is located in Dakota County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterford
  • Northfield
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Belle Creek
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Belle Creek is located in Goodhue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Creek
  • Wanamingo
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • White Rock
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • White Rock is located in Goodhue County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Rock
    • Dundas
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Castle Rock
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Castle Rock is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Rock

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

Newspapers Published in Wangs ...

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 133 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wangs.

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

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Wangs:

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