RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of North Dakota >> Oliver County >> Otter Creek >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
North Dakota

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 Otter Creek (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 Otter Creek. 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 Otter Creek ...

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 have occurred.

Another variation: Ottercreek.

  • A typical abbreviation for Otter Creek: Otter Crk. (or less commonly used: Otter Ck. or Otter Cr.)

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals 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.

Otter Creek is located in Oliver 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 Oliver County: Burleigh, McLean, Mercer & Morton.

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

  • Oliver County     (The home county of Otter Creek)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Otter Creek, with the one closest to Otter Creek listed first.
    • Hannover
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hannover
      • Hannover is located in Oliver County
    • Center
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Hensler
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hensler
      • Hensler is located in Oliver County
    • Sanger
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanger
      • Sanger is located in Oliver County
  • McLean County
    • Washburn
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Mercer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Otter Creek, with the one closest to Otter Creek listed first.
    • Hazen
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Beulah
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beulah have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beulah
      • Beulah is located in Mercer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,128 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Beulah <1>
    • Stanton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Knife River Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knife River Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knife River Village
      • Knife River Village is located in Mercer County
    • Krem ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Krem. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Krem
      • Krem is located in Mercer County
    • Zap
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zap
      • Zap is located in Mercer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Zap <1>
    • Golden Valley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Golden Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden Valley
      • Golden Valley is located in Mercer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 164 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Golden Valley <1>
  • Morton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Otter Creek, with the one closest to Otter Creek listed first.
    • Bluegrass ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluegrass
      • Bluegrass is located in Morton County
    • New Salem
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Salem have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Salem
      • New Salem is located in Morton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,006 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Salem <1>
    • Sims
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sims have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sims
      • Sims is located in Morton County
    • Glen Ullin
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Almont
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Hebron
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Lyons
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Otter Creek ...

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 30 newspapers that have been published in the area around Otter Creek.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Otter Creek, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Otter Creek.

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 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 Otter Creek:

Cemeteries Near Otter Creek ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Otter Creek.

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

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

  • Otter Creek Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Otter Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Otter Creek Cemetery
  • Moos Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Moos Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Moos Cemetery
  • Buchmann Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Buchmann Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Buchmann Cemetery
  • Spring Brook Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spring Brook Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spring Brook Cemetery
  • Rhein Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rhein Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rhein Cemetery
  • St. Markus Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Hannover Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Bluegrass Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bluegrass Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bluegrass Cemetery
  • St. Benedict Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Benedict Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Benedict Cemetery
  • Red Butte Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Red Butte Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Red Butte Cemetery
  • New Gluecksthal Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Gluecksthal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Gluecksthal Cemetery
  • Voegele Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Voegele Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Voegele Cemetery
  • Continue List   (65 more) ...
    • Nisbet Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nisbet Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nisbet Cemetery
    • Unruh Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Unruh Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Unruh Cemetery
    • St. Pauls Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Pauls Cemetery is located outside and to the north of Center.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Pauls Cemetery

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.<6>

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

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

  • Bluegrass ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluegrass
    • Bluegrass is located in Morton County
  • Hannover
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hannover
    • Hannover is located in Oliver County
  • New Salem
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Salem have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Salem
    • New Salem is located in Morton County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,006 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Salem <1>
  • Sims
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sims have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sims
    • Sims is located in Morton County
  • Glen Ullin
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Judson
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Judson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Judson
    • Judson is located in Morton County
  • Stanton
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Almont
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
  • Krem ‑ Historic
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Krem. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Krem
    • Krem is located in Mercer County
  • Sweet Briar
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sweet Briar have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet Briar
    • Sweet Briar is located in Morton County
  • Hebron
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Hensler
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hensler
    • Hensler is located in Oliver County
  • Sanger
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanger
    • Sanger is located in Oliver County
  • Washburn
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)

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

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

The official website for State of North Dakota: 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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Otter Creek) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Otter Creek. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.0492, Longitude: -101.5552       In this case, the coordinates for Otter Creek have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<6>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 Otter Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024