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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 Wescott (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 Wescott. 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 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.

Wescott is located in Dakota 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 Dakota County: Goodhue, Hennepin, Ramsey, Rice, Scott, Washington & Pierce (WI).

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

  • Dakota County     (The home county of Wescott)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wescott, with the one closest to Wescott listed first.
    • Inver Grove Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Sunfish Lake
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Eagan
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Eagan is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 65,975 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eagan <1>
    • Mendota Heights
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • South Saint Paul
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mendota
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Rosemount
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Nicols
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Nicols is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicols
    • Lilydale
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Lilydale is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lilydale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 838 people
    • West Saint Paul
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Apple Valley
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Coates
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Coates is located in Dakota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coates
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
  • Anoka County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wescott, with the one closest to Wescott listed first.
    • Columbia Heights
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Hilltop
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Hilltop is located in Anoka County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 764 people
    • Fridley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Spring Lake Park
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Circle Pines
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Lexington
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Centerville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Blaine
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Lino Lakes
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Coon Creek
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Coon Creek is located in Anoka County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coon Creek
    • Coon Rapids
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Anoka
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Carver County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wescott, with the one closest to Wescott listed first.
    • Chanhassen
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Chaska
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Hazeltine
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Hazeltine is located in Carver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazeltine
    • Carver
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Victoria
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Dahlgren
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Dahlgren is located in Carver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dahlgren
  • Goodhue County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wescott, with the one closest to Wescott listed first.
    • Cannon Falls
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Stanton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Stanton is located in Goodhue County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanton
    • Welch
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Dennison
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Wangs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Wangs is located in Goodhue County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wangs
    • White Rock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • White Rock is located in Goodhue County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Rock
  • Hennepin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wescott, with the one closest to Wescott listed first.
    • Richfield
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Bloomington
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Edina
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Edina is located in Hennepin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edina
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 52,477 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edina <1>
    • Minneapolis
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Anthony
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Hopkins
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Louis Park
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Golden Valley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Eden Prairie
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Minnetonka Mills
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Minnetonka Mills is located in Hennepin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minnetonka Mills
    • Robbinsdale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Crystal
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Ramsey County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wescott, with the one closest to Wescott listed first.
    • Highwood
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Highwood is located in Ramsey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highwood
    • Saint Paul
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Falcon Heights
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Lauderdale
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Lauderdale is located in Ramsey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lauderdale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,484 people
    • Roseville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Little Canada
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • North Saint Paul
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Maplewood
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Cardigan Junction
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Cardigan Junction is located in Ramsey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardigan Junction
    • Gem Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Gem Lake is located in Ramsey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gem Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 536 people
    • Vadnais Heights
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Arden Hills
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Rice County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wescott, with the one closest to Wescott listed first.
    • Webster
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Northfield
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Dundas
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Trondjem
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Trondjem is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trondjem
    • Lonsdale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Millersburg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Millersburg is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersburg
    • Wheatland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Wheatland is located in Rice County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatland
  • Scott County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wescott, with the one closest to Wescott listed first.
    • Savage
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Credit River
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Credit River is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Credit River
    • Prior Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Shakopee
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Elko New Market
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • 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 southwest)
    • New Market
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedar Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Cedar Lake is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Lake
    • Marystown
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Marystown is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marystown
    • Saint Patrick
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Saint Patrick is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Patrick
    • Jordan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • New Prague
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wescott, with the one closest to Wescott listed first.
    • Saint Paul Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Newport
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Cottage Grove
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Woodbury
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Landfall
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Landfall is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landfall
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 733 people
    • Oakdale
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Oakdale is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakdale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,773 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oakdale <1>
    • Afton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Afton is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Afton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,036 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Afton <1>
    • Lake Elmo
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Pine Springs
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Pine Springs is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Springs
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 390 people
    • Saint Marys Point
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Saint Marys Point is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Marys Point
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 388 people
    • Birchwood Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Birchwood Village is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birchwood Village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 880 people
    • Willernie
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Pierce County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wescott, with the one closest to Wescott listed first.
    • Prescott
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Prescott is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescott
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,279 people
    • River Falls
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • River Falls is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Falls
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,306 people
    • Trimbelle
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Trimbelle is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trimbelle
    • Beldenville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Beldenville is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beldenville
    • Moeville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Moeville is located in Pierce County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moeville
  • Saint Croix County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wescott, with the one closest to Wescott listed first.
    • Hudson
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Hudson is located in Saint Croix County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,168 people
    • North Hudson
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • North Hudson is located in Saint Croix County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Hudson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,833 people
    • Burkhardt
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Burkhardt is located in Saint Croix County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burkhardt
    • Roberts
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Roberts is located in Saint Croix County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roberts
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,018 people
    • Somerset
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Somerset is located in Saint Croix County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerset
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,992 people

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

Cemeteries Near Wescott ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wescott.

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

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

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

  • St. Patrick Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Lone Oak Lutheran Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Oak Lutheran Cemetery
    • The Lone Oak Lutheran Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Trinity Lone Oak Lutheran Cemetery
  • Old Emanuel Luthern Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Salem Kirche Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Salem Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Christ Luthern Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Pine Bend Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Resurrection Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Union Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (264 more) ...
    • Grey Cloud Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • German Lutheran Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for German Lutheran Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the German Lutheran Cemetery is located in South Saint Paul.
      • The German Lutheran Cemetery has also been known as:
      • General Lutheran Cemetery
    • Oak Hill Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)

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

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

  • Pine Bend
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Pine Bend is located in Dakota County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Bend
  • Rosemount
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Rich Valley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rich Valley is located in Dakota County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Valley
  • Saint Paul Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • South Saint Paul
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Mendota
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Nicols
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Nicols is located in Dakota County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicols
  • Newport
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • West Saint Paul
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Highwood
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Highwood is located in Ramsey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highwood
  • Langdon
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Langdon is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langdon
  • Cottage Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Saint Paul
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Richfield
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Bloomington
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Wescott ...

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 460 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wescott.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wescott, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wescott.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Wescott:

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 Wescott, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Wescott) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.