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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 Norma (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 Norma. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Norma is located in Renville 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 Renville County: Bottineau, Burke, McHenry & Ward.

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

  • Renville County     (The home county of Norma)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Norma, with the one closest to Norma listed first.
    • Tolley
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tolley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tolley
      • Tolley is located in Renville County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 49 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tolley <2>
    • Grano
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grano have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grano
      • Grano is located in Renville County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6 people
    • Loraine
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loraine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loraine
      • Loraine is located in Renville County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8 people
    • Mohall
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mohall have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mohall
      • Mohall is located in Renville County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 709 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mohall <2>
    • Sherwood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sherwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherwood
      • Sherwood is located in Renville County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 223 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sherwood <2>
  • Bottineau County
    • Lansford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lansford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lansford
      • Lansford is located in Bottineau County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 240 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lansford <2>
  • Burke County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Norma, with the one closest to Norma listed first.
    • Bowbells
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bowbells have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowbells
      • Bowbells is located in Burke County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 338 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bowbells <2>
    • Flaxton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flaxton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flaxton
      • Flaxton is located in Burke County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Flaxton <2>
    • Lignite
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lignite have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lignite
      • Lignite is located in Burke County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 221 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lignite <2>
  • Mountrail County
  • Ward County

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

Cemeteries Near Norma ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Norma.

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

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

  • Rose Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rose Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rose Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • The Rose Hill Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Rosehill Cemetery
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trinity Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trinity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lake View Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lake View Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lake View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethane Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethane Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethane Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Greenbush Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenbush Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenbush Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Niobe Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Niobe Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Niobe Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pleasant View Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant View Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bowbells Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bowbells Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bowbells Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • 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.
  • Holbrook Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holbrook Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holbrook Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Anthony Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Danish Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Danish Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Danish Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (31 more) ...
    • Moravian Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Moravian Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Moravian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Grano Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grano Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grano Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Zion Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Norma ...

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 31 newspapers that have been published in the area around Norma.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Norma. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Norma and those printed in the larger area surrounding Norma.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Norma.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Norma:

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

The official website for Renville County: www.renvillecounty.org/

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>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.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Norma) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Norma. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.7296, Longitude: -101.9731    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025