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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 Waukon (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 Waukon. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Waukon is located in Norman 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 Norman County: Becker, Clay, Mahnomen, Polk, Cass (ND) & Traill (ND).

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

  • Norman County     (The home county of Waukon)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waukon, with the one closest to Waukon listed first.
    • Faith
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Faith is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faith
    • Gary
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Flaming
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Flaming is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flaming
    • Rindal
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Rindal is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rindal
    • Twin Valley
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Twin Valley is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 750 people
    • Flom
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Ada
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Ada is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,556 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ada <1>
    • Borup
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Borup is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borup
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
  • Becker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waukon, with the one closest to Waukon listed first.
    • Ogema
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Ogema is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogema
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 183 people
    • White Earth
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Callaway
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Richwood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Richwood is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwood
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waukon, with the one closest to Waukon listed first.
    • Ulen
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Felton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hitterdal
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Hitterdal is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hitterdal
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 213 people
  • Clearwater County
    • Rice Lake
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Rice Lake is located in Clearwater County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Lake
  • Mahnomen County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waukon, with the one closest to Waukon listed first.
    • Mahnomen
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Bejou
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Waubun
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Naytahwaush
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Roy Lake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Roy Lake is located in Mahnomen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roy Lake
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waukon, with the one closest to Waukon listed first.
    • Winger
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Fertile
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Erskine
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • McIntosh
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Melvin
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Melvin is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
    • Mentor
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Beltrami
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Beltrami is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
    • Dugdale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Dugdale is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale
    • Fosston
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Lengby
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Lengby is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lengby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people

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

Cemeteries Near Waukon ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Waukon.

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

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

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

  • Ness Lutheran Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • St. Petri Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Immanuel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Hlubek Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Norman Lutheran Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • St. Olaf Lutheran Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • First Lutheran Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Sundal Lutheran Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Gary Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Zion Norwegian Lutheran Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • North Wild Rice Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (143 more) ...
    • Old Sundal Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Zion Memorial Gardens
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • St. Williams Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)

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

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

  • Faith
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Faith is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faith
  • Gary
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Rindal
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Rindal is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rindal
  • Heiberg
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Heiberg is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heiberg
  • Twin Valley
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Twin Valley is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Valley
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 750 people
  • Fossum
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Fossum is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fossum
  • Fertile
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Winger
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Syre
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Syre is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Syre
  • Ada
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Ada is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,556 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ada <1>
  • Maple Bay
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Maple Bay is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bay
  • Ulen
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Lockhart
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Lockhart is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockhart
    • McIntosh
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Erskine
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Waukon ...

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 25 newspapers that have been published in the area around Waukon.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Waukon, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Waukon.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Waukon:

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