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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 Ops (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 Ops. 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 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.

Ops is located in Walsh 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 Walsh County: Marshall (MN), Cavalier, Grand Forks, Nelson, Pembina & Ramsey.

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

  • Walsh County     (The home county of Ops)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ops, with the one closest to Ops listed first.
    • Conway
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Conway is located in Walsh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21 people
    • Forest River
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Pisek
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Fordville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Ardoch
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Minto
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Herriott
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Herriott is located in Walsh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herriott
    • Mandt
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Mandt is located in Walsh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mandt
    • Park River
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Grafton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasant Valley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Pleasant Valley is located in Walsh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
    • Warsaw
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Warsaw is located in Walsh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warsaw
    • Lankin
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Grand Forks County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ops, with the one closest to Ops listed first.
    • Inkster
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Johnstown
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Johnstown is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
    • Orr
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Orr is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orr
    • Gilby
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Gilby is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 230 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilby <1>
    • McCanna
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • McCanna is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCanna
    • Mekinock
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Niagara
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Arvilla
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Larimore
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Kelly
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Kelly is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
    • Manvel
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Manvel is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manvel
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 372 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manvel <1>
    • Emerado
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Kempton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Kempton is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kempton
  • Nelson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ops, with the one closest to Ops listed first.
    • Petersburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Whitman
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Whitman is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitman
    • Michigan City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Michigan City is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
    • Michigan
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Pembina County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ops, with the one closest to Ops listed first.
    • Crystal
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Saint Thomas
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Gardar
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Gardar is located in Pembina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardar
    • Drayton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Marshall County (MN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ops, with the one closest to Ops listed first.
    • Oslo
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Oslo is located in Marshall County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oslo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 323 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oslo <1>
    • Big Woods
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Big Woods is located in Marshall County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Woods
    • Alvarado
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Alvarado is located in Marshall County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alvarado
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 362 people

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

Cemeteries Near Ops ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ops.

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 Ops - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • St. Marks Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Forest River Colony Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Inkster Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • East Forest River Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Memorial Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • St. Lukes Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Prairie Home Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Minto Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • St. Patrick Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (64 more) ...
    • Concordia Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Kensington Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Hyde Park Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)

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.<3>

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

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

  • Conway
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Conway is located in Walsh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conway
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 21 people
  • Inkster
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Forest River
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Veseleyville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Veseleyville is located in Walsh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Veseleyville
  • Pisek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Johnstown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Johnstown is located in Grand Forks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
  • Voss
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Voss is located in Walsh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voss
  • Orr
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Orr is located in Grand Forks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orr
  • Gilby
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Gilby is located in Grand Forks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilby
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 230 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilby <1>
  • Ardoch
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Minto
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Park River
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Grafton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • McCanna
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • McCanna is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCanna
    • Nash
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Nash is located in Walsh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nash

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

Newspapers Published in Ops ...

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 48 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ops.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ops, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ops.

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 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 Ops:

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>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 Ops, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ops) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.