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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 Pleasant Lake (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 Pleasant Lake. 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 Pleasant Lake ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Pleasant Lake: Pleasant Lk.

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 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.

Pleasant Lake is located in Benson 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 Benson County: Eddy, Nelson, Pierce, Ramsey, Towner & Wells.

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

  • Benson County     (The home county of Pleasant Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Lake, with the one closest to Pleasant Lake listed first.
    • Knox
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knox have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • York
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Leeds
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Niles
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Niles have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Niles
      • Niles is located in Benson County
    • Isabel
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Esmond
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Esmond have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esmond
      • Esmond is located in Benson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Esmond <2>
    • Brinsmade
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brinsmade have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brinsmade
      • Brinsmade is located in Benson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 34 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brinsmade <2>
    • Maddock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maddock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maddock
      • Maddock is located in Benson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 375 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maddock <2>
  • Bottineau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Lake, with the one closest to Pleasant Lake listed first.
    • Overly
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Overly have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • McHenry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Lake, with the one closest to Pleasant Lake listed first.
    • Berwick
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berwick have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berwick
      • Berwick is located in McHenry County
    • Towner
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Pierce County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Lake, with the one closest to Pleasant Lake listed first.
    • Rugby
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Wolford
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Balta
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Balta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Barton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barton
      • Barton is located in Pierce County
    • Orrin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Ramsey County
    • Churchs Ferry
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Churchs Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churchs Ferry
      • Churchs Ferry is located in Ramsey County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Churchs Ferry <2>
  • Rolette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Lake, with the one closest to Pleasant Lake listed first.
    • Rolette
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Mylo
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mylo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Agate
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Shell Valley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shell Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shell Valley
      • Shell Valley is located in Rolette County
  • Towner County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Lake, with the one closest to Pleasant Lake listed first.
    • Bisbee
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bisbee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Maza
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maza have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maza
      • Maza is located in Towner County
    • Cando
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cando have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Perth
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Pleasant Lake ...

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 56 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pleasant Lake.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pleasant Lake, 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 Pleasant Lake.

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 Pleasant Lake:

Cemeteries Near Pleasant Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pleasant Lake.

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

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

  • Knox Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Knox Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Knox Cemetery
  • Knox Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Knox Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Knox Cemetery
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
  • Little Flower Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Little Flower Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Little Flower Cemetery
  • St. Anns Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Anns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Anns Cemetery
  • South Ox Creek Lutheran Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • 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.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trinity Cemetery
  • Zion Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • 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.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Cemetery
  • Mt. Carmel Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Carmel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Carmel Cemetery
  • Leeds Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Leeds Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Leeds Cemetery
  • Pleasant Valley Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Valley Cemetery
  • North Ox Creek Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Ox Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Ox Creek Cemetery
  • Continue List   (34 more) ...
    • Ostreim Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ostreim Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ostreim Cemetery
    • Wahi Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Our Saviors Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Our Saviors Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Our Saviors 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Pleasant Lake had a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Knox
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knox have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Rugby
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • York
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Leeds
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Barton
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barton
    • Barton is located in Pierce County
  • Berwick
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berwick have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berwick
    • Berwick is located in McHenry County
  • Brinsmade
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brinsmade have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brinsmade
    • Brinsmade is located in Benson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 34 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brinsmade <2>
  • Bisbee
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bisbee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Churchs Ferry
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Churchs Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churchs Ferry
    • Churchs Ferry is located in Ramsey County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 12 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Churchs Ferry <2>
  • Cando
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cando have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Willow City
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Perth
    (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 Pleasant Lake. See our List of 1890's Communities around Pleasant Lake.

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

The official website for State of North Dakota: 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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Pleasant Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Pleasant Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.3616, Longitude: -99.8029       In this case, the coordinates for Pleasant Lake have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Pleasant Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024