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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 Knife River Village (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 Knife River Village. 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 Knife River Village ...

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 have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Knife River Village: Knife River Vlg. (in Canada, 'Vlge.' is the more common abbreviation.)

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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Knife River Village is located in Mercer 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 Mercer County: Dunn, McLean, Morton, Oliver & Stark.

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

  • Mercer County     (The home county of Knife River Village)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Knife River Village, with the one closest to Knife River Village listed first.
    • Stanton
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Krem ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Krem
      • Krem is located in Mercer County
    • Hazen
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Pick City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pick City
      • Pick City is located in Mercer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 132 people
    • Beulah
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beulah have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beulah
      • Beulah is located in Mercer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,128 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Beulah <1>
    • Zap
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zap
      • Zap is located in Mercer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Zap <1>
    • Beaver Creek ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Creek
      • Beaver Creek is located in Mercer County
  • McLean County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Knife River Village, with the one closest to Knife River Village listed first.
    • Riverdale
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Underwood
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Underwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
    • Riverdale Junction
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverdale Junction
      • Riverdale Junction is located in McLean County
    • Washburn
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Coleharbor
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coleharbor have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
    • Garrison
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garrison have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garrison
      • Garrison is located in McLean County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,458 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garrison <1>
    • Turtle Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Wilton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wilton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilton
      • Wilton is located in McLean County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 712 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wilton <1>
    • Nishu ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nishu
      • Nishu is located in McLean County
  • Morton County
    • Bluegrass ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluegrass
      • Bluegrass is located in Morton County
  • Oliver County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Knife River Village, with the one closest to Knife River Village listed first.
    • Hensler
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hensler
      • Hensler is located in Oliver County
    • Center
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Hannover
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hannover
      • Hannover is located in Oliver County
    • Sanger
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanger
      • Sanger is located in Oliver County

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

Cemeteries Near Knife River Village ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Knife River Village.

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 Knife River Village covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Stanton Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Basto Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Basto Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Basto Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Our Saviors Lutheran Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Zion Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Alderin Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Alderin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Alderin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Deapolis Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Deapolis Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Deapolis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bagley Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bagley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bagley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cambridge Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Conklin Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Conklin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Conklin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Zoar Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zoar Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zoar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Pauls Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Peace Lutheran Church
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (73 more) ...
    • St. Jacobs Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Jacobs Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Jacobs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #102420 <4>
    • Tschaekofske Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • 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.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. James Lutheran / Krem Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)

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 Knife River Village in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Knife River Village.

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

  • Stanton
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Krem ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • 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.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Krem
    • Krem is located in Mercer County
  • Hensler
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hensler
    • Hensler is located in Oliver County
  • Hannover
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hannover
    • Hannover is located in Oliver County
  • Washburn
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Sanger
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanger
    • Sanger is located in Oliver County
  • Turtle Lake
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Bluegrass ‑ Historic
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluegrass
    • Bluegrass is located in Morton County

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

Newspapers Published in Knife River Village ...

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 25 newspapers that have been published in the area around Knife River Village.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Knife River Village, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Knife River Village.

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 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 Knife River Village:

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

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>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.
<3>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.
<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 from Point A (ie- Knife River Village) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Knife River Village. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.3278, Longitude: -101.3722       In this case, the coordinates for Knife River Village 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 Knife River Village, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025