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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 Wolf Lake (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 Wolf Lake. 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.

Name Variations for Wolf Lake ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Wolf Lake: Wolf Lk.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Wolf Lake. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Wolf Lake.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Wolf Lake is located in Becker 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 Becker County: Clay, Clearwater, Hubbard, Mahnomen, Norman, Otter Tail & Wadena.

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

  • Becker County     (The home county of Wolf Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wolf Lake, with the one closest to Wolf Lake listed first.
    • Evergreen
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Evergreen is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
    • Osage
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Pine Point
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Pine Point is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Point
    • Ponsford
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Rochert
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Two Inlets
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Two Inlets is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Two Inlets
    • Frazee
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Detroit Lakes
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Elbow Lake
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Elbow Lake is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbow Lake
    • Richwood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Richwood is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwood
    • Bucks Mill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Bucks Mill is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Mill
    • Callaway
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Clearwater County
    • Long Lost Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Long Lost Lake is located in Clearwater County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lost Lake
      • Estimated population in 2015: 44 people
  • Hubbard County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wolf Lake, with the one closest to Wolf Lake listed first.
    • Park Rapids
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Dorset
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Dorset is located in Hubbard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorset
    • Nevis
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Otter Tail County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wolf Lake, with the one closest to Wolf Lake listed first.
    • Davies
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Davies is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davies
    • Perham
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Perham is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,638 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perham <1>
    • New York Mills
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Vergas
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Bluffton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Bluffton is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluffton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
    • Dent
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Dent is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dent
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 185 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dent <1>
    • Richville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Wadena
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Wadena is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wadena
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,121 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wadena <1>
    • Deer Creek
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Deer Creek is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 321 people
    • Leaf City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Leaf City is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaf City
    • Ottertail
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Wadena County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wolf Lake, with the one closest to Wolf Lake listed first.
    • Menahga
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Sebeka
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Nimrod
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Wolf Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wolf Lake.

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 Wolf Lake - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Wolf Lake Community Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Palm Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Bethany Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Pickerel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Spruce Grove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Pickett Family Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Snellman Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Zion Lutheran Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Green Valley Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • St. Paul's Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Red Eye Valley Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (130 more) ...
    • Alajoki Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Osage Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Linnel Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)

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

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

  • Osage
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Menahga
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Davies
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Davies is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davies
  • Park Rapids
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Hubbard
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Hubbard is located in Hubbard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hubbard
  • Frazee
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Luce
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Luce is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luce
  • Perham
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Perham is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perham
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,638 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perham <1>
  • Sebeka
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • New York Mills
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Bluffton
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Bluffton is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluffton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
  • Nimrod
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Richwood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Richwood is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwood
    • Bucks Mill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Bucks Mill is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Mill
    • Wadena
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Wadena is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wadena
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,121 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wadena <1>

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

Newspapers Published in Wolf Lake ...

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 54 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wolf Lake.

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

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 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 Wolf Lake:

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