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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 North Valley City (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 North Valley City. 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 North Valley City ...

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 occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for North Valley City: N. Valley City

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 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.

North Valley City is located in Barnes County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Barnes County: Cass, Griggs, LaMoure, Ransom, Steele & Stutsman.

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

  • Barnes County     (The home county of North Valley City)
    • The following are listed by their distance from North Valley City, with the one closest to North Valley City listed first.
    • Valley City
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Oriska
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Sanborn
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Ashtabula ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Ashtabula is located in Barnes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashtabula
    • Rogers
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Fingal
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Eckelson
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Sibley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Sibley is located in Barnes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sibley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 28 people
    • Leal
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Leal is located in Barnes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leal
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18 people
    • Kathryn
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Dazey
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Pillsbury
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Pillsbury is located in Barnes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pillsbury
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11 people
    • Nome
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from North Valley City, with the one closest to North Valley City listed first.
    • Tower City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Buffalo
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Ayr
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Nolan ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Nolan is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nolan
    • Page
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Alice
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Alice is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alice
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 40 people
    • Magnolia
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Magnolia is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
    • Absaraka
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Wheatland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Erie
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Griggs County
    • The following are listed by their distance from North Valley City, with the one closest to North Valley City listed first.
    • Walum
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Walum is located in Griggs County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walum
    • Hannaford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • LaMoure County
    • Marion
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Ransom County
    • The following are listed by their distance from North Valley City, with the one closest to North Valley City listed first.
    • Fort Ransom
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Enderlin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Steele County
    • The following are listed by their distance from North Valley City, with the one closest to North Valley City listed first.
    • Luverne
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Hope
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Stutsman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from North Valley City, with the one closest to North Valley City listed first.
    • Spiritwood
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Spiritwood Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Spiritwood Lake is located in Stutsman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spiritwood Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
    • Ypsilanti
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Bloom
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Bloom is located in Stutsman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloom

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

Cemeteries Near North Valley City ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of North Valley City.

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.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for North Valley City - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for North Valley City covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Woodbine Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • St. Catherines Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Hillside Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Valley City.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #102029 <2>
  • Memory Gardens Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Prairie Rest Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Nebo Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • St. Bernards Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Oriska Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • St. Peter Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Ringsaker Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (51 more) ...
    • Morton Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Sheyenne Valley Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Sunnyside Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)

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 North Valley City in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of North Valley City.

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

  • Valley City
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Berea
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Berea is located in Barnes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berea
  • Oriska
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Cuba
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Cuba is located in Barnes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba
  • Sanborn
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Odell ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Odell is located in Barnes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odell
  • Ashtabula ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Ashtabula is located in Barnes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashtabula
  • Daily
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Daily is located in Barnes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daily
  • Fingal
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Tower City
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Hastings
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Hastings is located in Barnes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hastings
  • Dazey
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Urbana
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Urbana is located in Barnes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urbana
    • Lucca
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Lucca is located in Barnes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucca
    • Buffalo
      (21 miles [33.8 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 North Valley City. See our List of 1890's Communities around North Valley City.

Newspapers Published in North Valley City ...

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 80 newspapers that have been published in the area around North Valley City.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of North Valley City, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for North Valley City.

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 North Valley City:

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 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.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- North Valley City) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 North Valley City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.