RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of North Dakota >> McLean County >> Garrison >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
North Dakota

The Commemorative Quarter for North Dakota





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 Garrison (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 Garrison. 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 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.

Garrison is located in McLean County.

To see how the shape of North Dakota's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of McLean County: Burleigh, Dunn, McHenry, Mercer, Mountrail, Oliver, Sheridan & Ward.

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

  • McLean County     (The home county of Garrison)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Garrison, with the one closest to Garrison listed first.
    • Riverdale
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Coleharbor
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coleharbor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleharbor
      • Coleharbor is located in McLean County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coleharbor <1>
    • Max
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Max
      • Max is located in McLean County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 348 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Max <1>
    • Riverdale Junction
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverdale Junction
      • Riverdale Junction is located in McLean County
    • Benedict
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Benedict have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benedict
      • Benedict is located in McLean County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Benedict <1>
    • Underwood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Underwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Underwood
      • Underwood is located in McLean County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 729 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Underwood <1>
    • White Shield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Shield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Shield
      • White Shield is located in McLean County
    • Roseglen
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Nishu ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Nishu. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nishu
      • Nishu is located in McLean County
    • Turtle Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Ruso
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Mercer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Garrison, with the one closest to Garrison listed first.
    • Pick City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pick City
      • Pick City is located in Mercer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 132 people
    • Krem ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Krem. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Krem
      • Krem is located in Mercer County
    • Knife River Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knife River Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knife River Village
      • Knife River Village is located in Mercer County
    • Stanton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Hazen
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Beaver Creek ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Beaver Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Creek
      • Beaver Creek is located in Mercer County
  • Ward County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Garrison, with the one closest to Garrison listed first.
    • Douglas
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Ryder
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Makoti
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Garrison ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Garrison.

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

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

  • Geminde Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Geminde Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Geminde Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Clifton Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clifton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clifton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lilly Dale Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lilly Dale Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lilly Dale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Tschaekofske Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tschaekofske Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tschaekofske Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Coleharbor Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Coleharbor Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Coleharbor Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Max Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Max Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Max Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Immaculate Conception Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Immaculate Conception Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Immaculate Conception Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • First Baptist Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the First Baptist Cemetery
    • The First Baptist Cemetery has also been known as:
    • First Baptist Russian Cemetery
    • Max Baptist Cemetery
    • Max Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2205159 <4>
  • Blackwater Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blackwater Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blackwater Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Peters Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Peters Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Peters Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Pauls Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Cemetery
    • The Bethel Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Malcolm Twp. Cemetery
  • Continue List   (53 more) ...
    • Roseglen Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Roseglen Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Roseglen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Weiderich Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Weiderich Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Weiderich Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Immanuel Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Immanuel Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Immanuel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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>

While we didn't find Garrison in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Garrison.

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

  • Krem ‑ Historic
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Krem. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Krem
    • Krem is located in Mercer County
  • Stanton
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
  • Turtle Lake
    (26 miles [41.8 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 Garrison. See our List of 1890's Communities around Garrison.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Garrison ...

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 26 newspapers that have been published in the area around Garrison.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Garrison. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Garrison and those printed in the larger area surrounding Garrison.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<5> of Garrison.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Garrison:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Garrison. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for McLean County: www.visitmcleancounty.com/

The official website for State of North Dakota: https://www.nd.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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Garrison) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Garrison. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.6536, Longitude: -101.4238       In this case, the coordinates for Garrison 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 Garrison, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025