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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 Winthrop (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 Winthrop. 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 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.

Winthrop is located in Sibley 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 Sibley County: Carver, Le Sueur, McLeod, Nicollet, Renville & Scott.

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

  • Sibley County     (The home county of Winthrop)
  • Blue Earth County
  • Brown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winthrop, with the one closest to Winthrop listed first.
    • New Ulm
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Essig
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Searles
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Searles have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Searles
      • Searles is located in Brown County
    • Sleepy Eye
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sleepy Eye have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Eye
      • Sleepy Eye is located in Brown County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,329 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sleepy Eye <1>
    • Evan
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Iberia
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hanska
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hanska have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanska
      • Hanska is located in Brown County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 372 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hanska <1>
    • Cobden
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cobden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobden
      • Cobden is located in Brown County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35 people
    • Leavenworth
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Carver County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winthrop, with the one closest to Winthrop listed first.
    • Hamburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Assumption
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Assumption have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Assumption
      • Assumption is located in Carver County
    • Norwood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
    • Norwood Young America
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norwood Young America have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood Young America
      • Norwood Young America is located in Carver County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,794 people
    • Young America
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Young America have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Young America
      • Young America is located in Carver County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Young America <1>
    • Gotha
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • 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 Winthrop to Gotha
    • New Germany
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Germany have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Germany
      • New Germany is located in Carver County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 422 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Germany <1>
  • Le Sueur County
  • McLeod County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winthrop, with the one closest to Winthrop listed first.
    • Fernando
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Brownton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brownton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownton
      • Brownton is located in McLeod County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 711 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brownton <1>
    • Stewart
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stewart have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart
      • Stewart is located in McLeod County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 533 people
    • Sumter
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sumter. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumter
      • Sumter is located in McLeod County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sumter
      • From Winthrop to Sumter
    • Glencoe
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Biscay
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Plato
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Plato. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plato
      • Plato is located in McLeod County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plato <1>
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Plato
      • From Winthrop to Plato
    • Hutchinson
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Silver Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
      • Silver Lake is located in McLeod County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 806 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silver Lake <1>
    • Lester Prairie
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Meeker County
  • Nicollet County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winthrop, with the one closest to Winthrop listed first.
    • Lafayette
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lafayette have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lafayette
      • Lafayette is located in Nicollet County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 492 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lafayette <1>
    • New Sweden
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for New Sweden. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Sweden
      • New Sweden is located in Nicollet County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to New Sweden
      • From Winthrop to New Sweden
    • Courtland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Nicollet
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nicollet have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicollet
      • Nicollet is located in Nicollet County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,175 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nicollet <1>
    • Oshawa
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Saint Peter
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • North Mankato
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Mankato have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Mankato
      • North Mankato is located in Nicollet County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,052 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for North Mankato <1>
  • Redwood County
    • Morgan
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morgan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan
      • Morgan is located in Redwood County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 832 people
  • Renville County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winthrop, with the one closest to Winthrop listed first.
    • Fairfax
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairfax have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax
      • Fairfax is located in Renville County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,119 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairfax <1>
    • Buffalo Lake
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buffalo Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Lake
      • Buffalo Lake is located in Renville County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 678 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buffalo Lake <1>
    • Hector
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hector have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hector
      • Hector is located in Renville County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,041 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hector <1>
    • Franklin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Bird Island
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Morton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morton
      • Morton is located in Renville County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 369 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Morton <1>
  • Scott County

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

Cemeteries Near Winthrop ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Winthrop.

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

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

  • Winthrop Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • St. John's Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John's Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. John's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Tabor Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tabor Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tabor Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Methodist Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Methodist Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Methodist Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Gregory Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Gregory Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Gregory Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bernadotte Lutheran Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bernadotte Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bernadotte Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Municipal Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Municipal Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Municipal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Pauls Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Pauls Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Pauls Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Clear Lake Lutheran Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clear Lake Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clear Lake Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. John's Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John's Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. John's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. John's Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Matthew's Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Matthew's Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Matthew's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (232 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Winthrop had a population of 438 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Winthrop had a population of 1,323 people.

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

  • Bernadotte
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bernadotte have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bernadotte
    • Bernadotte is located in Nicollet County
  • Gaylord
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Gibbon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gibbon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibbon
    • Gibbon is located in Sibley County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 740 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gibbon <1>
  • New Auburn
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • New Sweden
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for New Sweden. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Sweden
    • New Sweden is located in Nicollet County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to New Sweden
    • From Winthrop to New Sweden
  • Stewart
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stewart have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart
    • Stewart is located in McLeod County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 533 people
  • New Rome
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Rome have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Rome
    • New Rome is located in Sibley County
  • Brownton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brownton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownton
    • Brownton is located in McLeod County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 711 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brownton <1>
  • Arlington
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Sumter
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sumter. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumter
    • Sumter is located in McLeod County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Sumter
    • From Winthrop to Sumter
  • Norseland
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norseland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norseland
    • Norseland is located in Nicollet County
  • New Ulm
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Rush River
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rush River have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rush River
      • Rush River is located in Sibley County
    • Fairfax
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairfax have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax
      • Fairfax is located in Renville County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,119 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairfax <1>
    • Courtland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Winthrop ...

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 119 newspapers that have been published in the area around Winthrop.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Winthrop. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Winthrop and those printed in the larger area surrounding Winthrop.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6> of Winthrop.

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 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 Winthrop:

The official website for Winthrop: www.winthrop.mn.citygovt.org/

The official website for Sibley County: www.co.sibley.mn.us/

The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.gov/

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 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.
<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>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 Winthrop, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- Winthrop) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Winthrop. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.5431, Longitude: -94.3651    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025