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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 Nanson (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 Nanson. 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 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.

Nanson is located in Rolette 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 Rolette County: Bottineau, Pierce & Towner.

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

  • Rolette County     (The home county of Nanson)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Nanson, with the one closest to Nanson listed first.
    • Rolette
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Mylo
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mylo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mylo
      • Mylo is located in Rolette County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mylo <1>
    • Agate
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Shell Valley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shell Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shell Valley
      • Shell Valley is located in Rolette County
    • Belcourt
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Rolla
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rolla have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolla
      • Rolla is located in Rolette County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,273 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rolla <1>
    • Dunseith
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dunseith have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunseith
      • Dunseith is located in Rolette County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 768 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dunseith <1>
    • San Haven
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Haven
      • San Haven is located in Rolette County
    • East Dunseith
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Dunseith have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Dunseith
      • East Dunseith is located in Rolette County
    • Saint John
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint John have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint John
      • Saint John is located in Rolette County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 341 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint John <1>
    • Kelvin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelvin
      • Kelvin is located in Rolette County
  • Benson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Nanson, with the one closest to Nanson listed first.
    • Pleasant Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pleasant Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Lake
      • Pleasant Lake is located in Benson County
    • Knox
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knox have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knox
      • Knox is located in Benson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Knox <1>
    • York
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Leeds
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Niles
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Niles. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Niles
      • Niles is located in Benson County
  • Bottineau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Nanson, with the one closest to Nanson listed first.
    • Overly
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Overly have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overly
      • Overly is located in Bottineau County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17 people
    • Willow City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow City
      • Willow City is located in Bottineau County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 150 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willow City <1>
    • Omemee ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omemee
      • Omemee is located in Bottineau County
  • McHenry County
    • Berwick
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Berwick. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berwick
      • Berwick is located in McHenry County
  • Pierce County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Nanson, with the one closest to Nanson listed first.
    • Wolford
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolford
      • Wolford is located in Pierce County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 32 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wolford <1>
    • Rugby
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Barton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barton
      • Barton is located in Pierce County
    • Balta
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Balta have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Balta
      • Balta is located in Pierce County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 58 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Balta <1>
  • Towner County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Nanson, with the one closest to Nanson listed first.
    • Perth
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Bisbee
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bisbee have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bisbee
      • Bisbee is located in Towner County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bisbee <1>
    • Cando
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cando have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cando
      • Cando is located in Towner County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,008 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cando <1>
    • Rocklake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Maza
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maza have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maza
      • Maza is located in Towner County

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

Cemeteries Near Nanson ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Nanson.

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

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

  • North Ox Creek Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Ox Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Ox Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • South Ox Creek Lutheran Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Rolette Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rolette Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rolette Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mylo Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mylo Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mylo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Westland Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Westland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Westland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pleasant Valley Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Valley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maryville Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maryville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maryville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Zion Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Edward Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Edward Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Edward Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakeview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Teubner Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Teubner Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Teubner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Knox Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Knox Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Knox Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (43 more) ...
    • Halling Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Halling Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Halling Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Emanuel Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Emanuel Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Emanuel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Little Flower Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Little Flower Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Little Flower 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.<5>

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

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

  • Pleasant Lake
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pleasant Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Lake
    • Pleasant Lake is located in Benson County
  • Knox
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knox have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knox
    • Knox is located in Benson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 24 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Knox <1>
  • Rugby
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Perth
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Barton
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barton
    • Barton is located in Pierce County
  • Bisbee
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bisbee have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bisbee
    • Bisbee is located in Towner County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bisbee <1>
  • Belcourt
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • York
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Rolla
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rolla have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolla
    • Rolla is located in Rolette County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,273 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rolla <1>
  • Dunseith
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dunseith have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunseith
    • Dunseith is located in Rolette County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 768 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dunseith <1>
  • Willow City
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow City
    • Willow City is located in Bottineau County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 150 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willow City <1>
  • Berwick
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Berwick. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berwick
    • Berwick is located in McHenry County
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Leeds
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Saint John
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint John have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint John
      • Saint John is located in Rolette County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 341 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint John <1>
    • Cando
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cando have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cando
      • Cando is located in Towner County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,008 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cando <1>

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

Newspapers Published in Nanson ...

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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around Nanson.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Nanson, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Nanson.

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 either 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 Nanson:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Nanson. 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>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>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 Nanson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 from Point A (ie- Nanson) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Nanson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.5739, Longitude: -99.7799       In this case, the coordinates for Nanson have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025