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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 Wheatland (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 Wheatland. 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.

Wheatland is located in Rice 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 Rice County: Dakota, Dodge, Goodhue, Le Sueur, Scott, Steele & Waseca.

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

  • Rice County     (The home county of Wheatland)
  • Blue Earth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wheatland, with the one closest to Wheatland listed first.
    • Madison Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Madison Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madison Lake
      • Madison Lake is located in Blue Earth County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,202 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Madison Lake <2>
    • Smiths Mill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smiths Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smiths Mill
      • Smiths Mill is located in Blue Earth County
    • Eagle Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Lake
      • Eagle Lake is located in Blue Earth County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,123 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eagle Lake <2>
  • Carver County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wheatland, with the one closest to Wheatland listed first.
    • Carver
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Chaska
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Dahlgren
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dahlgren. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dahlgren
      • Dahlgren is located in Carver County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Dahlgren
      • From Wheatland to Dahlgren
    • Gotha
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gotha. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gotha
      • Gotha is located in Carver County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Gotha
      • From Wheatland to Gotha
    • Assumption
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Assumption have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Assumption
      • Assumption is located in Carver County
    • Hazeltine
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Cologne
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cologne have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cologne
      • Cologne is located in Carver County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,860 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cologne <2>
    • Chanhassen
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Victoria
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Victoria have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victoria
      • Victoria is located in Carver County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,667 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Victoria <2>
    • Hamburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Hydes Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hydes Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hydes Lake
      • Hydes Lake is located in Carver County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hydes Lake
      • From Wheatland to Hydes Lake
    • Norwood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
      • Norwood is located in Carver County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norwood <2>
  • Dakota County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wheatland, with the one closest to Wheatland listed first.
    • Eureka Center
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Waterford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Waterford. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterford
      • Waterford is located in Dakota County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Waterford
      • From Wheatland to Waterford
    • Castle Rock
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castle Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Rock
      • Castle Rock is located in Dakota County
    • Lakeville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Farmington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Randolph
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Apple Valley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Apple Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Valley
      • Apple Valley is located in Dakota County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,847 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Apple Valley <2>
    • Burnsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burnsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnsville
      • Burnsville is located in Dakota County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 62,170 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Burnsville <2>
    • Hampton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Nicols
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Nicols. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicols
      • Nicols is located in Dakota County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Nicols
      • From Wheatland to Nicols
    • New Trier
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Trier have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Trier
      • New Trier is located in Dakota County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 106 people
    • Coates
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coates have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coates
      • Coates is located in Dakota County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
  • Goodhue County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wheatland, with the one closest to Wheatland listed first.
    • Dennison
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Stanton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Wangs
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wangs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wangs
      • Wangs is located in Goodhue County
    • Kenyon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Cannon Falls
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cannon Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon Falls
      • Cannon Falls is located in Goodhue County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,022 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cannon Falls <2>
  • Hennepin County
  • Le Sueur County
  • Nicollet County
  • Scott County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wheatland, with the one closest to Wheatland listed first.
    • New Prague
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedar Lake
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Saint Patrick
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • New Market
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Market have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Market
      • New Market is located in Scott County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Market <2>
    • Elko New Market
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elko New Market have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elko New Market
      • Elko New Market is located in Scott County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,733 people
    • Elko
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elko have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elko
      • Elko is located in Scott County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elko <2>
    • Union Hill
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Credit River
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Credit River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Credit River
      • Credit River is located in Scott County
    • Jordan
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Prior Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Belle Plaine
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Marystown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Marystown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marystown
      • Marystown is located in Scott County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Marystown
      • From Wheatland to Marystown
  • Sibley County
  • Steele County
  • Waseca County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wheatland, with the one closest to Wheatland listed first.
    • Elysian
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Palmer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Palmer. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmer
      • Palmer is located in Waseca County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Palmer
      • From Wheatland to Palmer
    • Waseca
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Janesville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Janesville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Janesville
      • Janesville is located in Waseca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,247 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Janesville <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Wheatland ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wheatland.

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

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

  • Calvary Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bohemian Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Michael Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • St. John Lutheran Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • St. John's Catholic Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John's Catholic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. John's Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sancti Wenceslai Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sancti Wenceslai Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sancti Wenceslai Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Scholastica Catholic Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Friedens Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Friedens Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Friedens Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (258 more) ...
    • Pomeranian Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pomeranian Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pomeranian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Forest Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Patrick Catholic Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Patrick Catholic Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Patrick Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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, Wheatland had a post office and no railroad service.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Wheatland ...

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 245 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wheatland.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wheatland, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wheatland.

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 helpful 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 Wheatland:

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Wheatland) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wheatland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.4640, Longitude: -93.4817       In this case, the coordinates for Wheatland have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Wheatland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.