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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 Lawton (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 Lawton. 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 hospitals and doctors 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.

Lawton is located in Ramsey 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 Ramsey County: Benson, Cavalier, Nelson, Towner & Walsh.

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

  • Ramsey County     (The home county of Lawton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lawton, with the one closest to Lawton listed first.
    • Brocket
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brocket have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brocket
      • Brocket is located in Ramsey County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 53 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brocket <2>
    • Edmore
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edmore have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmore
      • Edmore is located in Ramsey County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 175 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edmore <2>
    • Bartlett
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartlett
      • Bartlett is located in Ramsey County
    • Doyon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doyon
      • Doyon is located in Ramsey County
    • Hampden
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hampden have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hampden
      • Hampden is located in Ramsey County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 45 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hampden <2>
    • Crary
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crary have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crary
      • Crary is located in Ramsey County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crary <2>
    • Garske
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garske
      • Garske is located in Ramsey County
    • Webster
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Starkweather
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Devils Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Saint Joe
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Saint Joe. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Joe
      • Saint Joe is located in Ramsey County
    • Grand Harbor
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Grand Harbor. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Harbor
      • Grand Harbor is located in Ramsey County
  • Cavalier County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lawton, with the one closest to Lawton listed first.
    • Nekoma
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nekoma have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nekoma
      • Nekoma is located in Cavalier County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nekoma <2>
    • Loma
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loma have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loma
      • Loma is located in Cavalier County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15 people
    • Milton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Osnabrock
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Osnabrock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osnabrock
      • Osnabrock is located in Cavalier County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 119 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Osnabrock <2>
    • Alsen
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Nelson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lawton, with the one closest to Lawton listed first.
    • Whitman
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitman
      • Whitman is located in Nelson County
    • Lakota
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Mapes
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mapes. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mapes
      • Mapes is located in Nelson County
    • Michigan City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Michigan City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan City
      • Michigan City is located in Nelson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
    • Michigan
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Petersburg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Petersburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg
      • Petersburg is located in Nelson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Petersburg <2>
  • Pembina County
    • Gardar
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardar
      • Gardar is located in Pembina County
  • Walsh County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lawton, with the one closest to Lawton listed first.
    • Fairdale
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairdale
      • Fairdale is located in Walsh County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairdale <2>
    • Adams
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Praha ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Praha. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Praha
      • Praha is located in Walsh County
    • Lankin
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lankin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lankin
      • Lankin is located in Walsh County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 90 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lankin <2>
    • Pleasant Valley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pleasant Valley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
      • Pleasant Valley is located in Walsh County
    • Edinburg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edinburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edinburg
      • Edinburg is located in Walsh County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edinburg <2>
    • Fordville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fordville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fordville
      • Fordville is located in Walsh County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 194 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fordville <2>
    • Kerry ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kerry
      • Kerry is located in Walsh County
    • Park River
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Park River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park River
      • Park River is located in Walsh County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,305 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Park River <2>
    • Pisek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Lawton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lawton.

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

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

  • Lawton Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lawton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lawton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Vaage Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Vaage Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Vaage Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sobak Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sobak Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sobak Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hoff Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hoff Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hoff Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Edmore Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Edmore Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Edmore Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Ansgar Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Finnish Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Finnish Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Finnish Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kalhagen Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kalhagen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kalhagen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fox Lake Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fox Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fox Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hope Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hope Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Olaf Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Olaf Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Olaf Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (50 more) ...
    • West Forest Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Forest Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Forest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • ZCBJ Narodni Hrbitov Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the ZCBJ Narodni Hrbitov Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the ZCBJ Narodni Hrbitov Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Prospect Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prospect Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prospect Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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.<4>

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

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

  • Adams
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Bartlett
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartlett
    • Bartlett is located in Ramsey County
  • Lakota
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Praha ‑ Historic
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Praha. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Praha
    • Praha is located in Walsh County
  • Mapes
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mapes. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mapes
    • Mapes is located in Nelson County
  • Crary
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crary have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crary
    • Crary is located in Ramsey County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crary <2>
  • Michigan City
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Michigan City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan City
    • Michigan City is located in Nelson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
  • Michigan
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Starkweather
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Devils Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Petersburg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Petersburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg
      • Petersburg is located in Nelson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Petersburg <2>
    • Union
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
      • Union is located in Cavalier County
    • Milton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Harrisburg ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harrisburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
      • Harrisburg is located in Nelson County
    • Park River
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Park River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park River
      • Park River is located in Walsh County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,305 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Park River <2>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Lawton ...

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 70 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lawton.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Lawton. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Lawton and those printed in the larger area surrounding Lawton.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5> of Lawton.

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 Lawton:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Lawton. 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>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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 Lawton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Lawton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lawton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.3028, Longitude: -98.3679       In this case, the coordinates for Lawton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025