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 Forest River Colony (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 Forest River Colony. 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 Forest River Colony ...
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.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Forest River Colony: Forest Riv. Colony
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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals 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.
Forest River Colony is located in Grand Forks County.
To see how the shape of North Dakota's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Grand Forks County: Polk (MN), Nelson, Steele, Traill & Walsh.
Below are the counties that are near Forest River Colony. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Forest River Colony:
- Grand Forks County (The home county of Forest River Colony)
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest River Colony, with the one closest to Forest River Colony listed first.
- Inkster
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Orr
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Orr is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orr
- Johnstown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Johnstown is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
- McCanna
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- McCanna is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCanna
- Gilby
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Niagara
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Larimore
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Mekinock
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Arvilla
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Emerado
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Kelly
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Kelly is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
- Manvel
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Kempton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Kempton is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kempton
- Nelson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest River Colony, with the one closest to Forest River Colony listed first.
- Petersburg
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Whitman
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Whitman is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitman
- Michigan City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Michigan City is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
- Michigan
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Mapes
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Mapes is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mapes
- Pembina County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest River Colony, with the one closest to Forest River Colony listed first.
- Crystal
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Gardar
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Gardar is located in Pembina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardar
- Ramsey County
- Brocket
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Walsh County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest River Colony, with the one closest to Forest River Colony listed first.
- Conway
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Conway is located in Walsh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 21 people
- Fordville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Pisek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Forest River
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Lankin
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Praha ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Praha is located in Walsh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Praha
- Park River
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Pleasant Valley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Pleasant Valley is located in Walsh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
- Ardoch
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Mandt
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Mandt is located in Walsh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mandt
- Minto
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Herriott
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Herriott is located in Walsh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herriott
- Kerry ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Kerry is located in Walsh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kerry
- Marshall County (MN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest River Colony, with the one closest to Forest River Colony listed first.
- Oslo
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Oslo is located in Marshall County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oslo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 323 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oslo <1>
- Big Woods
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Big Woods is located in Marshall County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Woods
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Forest River Colony, see our County-by-County Page for Forest River Colony.
Cemeteries Near Forest River Colony ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Forest River Colony.
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 Forest River Colony - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Forest River Colony covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Forest River Colony, with the one closest to Forest River Colony listed first.
- Forest River Colony Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- East Forest River Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Inkster Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- St. Marks Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Oak Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- St. Johns Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Middle Forest River Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Zion Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Memorial Park
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- St. Andrews Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- St. Lukes Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Niagara Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (60 more) ...
- Prairie Home Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Christianson Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- St. Josephs Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
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 Forest River Colony in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Forest River Colony.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Forest River Colony, with the one closest to Forest River Colony listed first.
- Inkster
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Conway
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Conway is located in Walsh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 21 people
- Orr
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Orr is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orr
- Pisek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Johnstown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Johnstown is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
- Forest River
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Veseleyville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Veseleyville is located in Walsh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Veseleyville
- McCanna
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- McCanna is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCanna
- Gilby
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Voss
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Voss is located in Walsh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voss
- Praha ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Praha is located in Walsh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Praha
- Niagara
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Park River
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Shawnee
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Shawnee is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawnee
- Ardoch
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Forest River Colony. See our List of 1890's Communities around Forest River Colony.
Newspapers Published in Forest River Colony ...
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 47 newspapers that have been published in the area around Forest River Colony.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Forest River Colony, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Forest River Colony.
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 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 Forest River Colony:
- Websites specific to North Dakota
- Pages specific to Grand Forks County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Nelson County
- Pembina County
- Ramsey County
- Walsh County
- Marshall County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for North Dakota
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 Forest River Colony, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Forest River Colony) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |