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 Poland (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 Poland. 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 and hospitals 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.
Poland 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 Poland. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Poland:
- Walsh County (The home county of Poland)
- The following are listed by their distance from Poland, with the one closest to Poland listed first.
- Ardoch
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Warsaw
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Warsaw is located in Walsh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warsaw
- Minto
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Forest River
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Herriott
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Herriott is located in Walsh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herriott
- Grafton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Cashel ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Cashel is located in Walsh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cashel
- Herrick
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Conway
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Conway is located in Walsh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 21 people
- Auburn
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Auburn is located in Walsh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburn
- Mandt
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Mandt is located in Walsh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mandt
- Pisek
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Fordville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Grand Forks County
- The following are listed by their distance from Poland, with the one closest to Poland listed first.
- Manvel
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Johnstown
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Johnstown is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
- Gilby
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Kelly
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Kelly is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
- Mekinock
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Inkster
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Emerado
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Grand Forks
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Orr
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Orr is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orr
- Arvilla
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- McCanna
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- McCanna is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCanna
- Larimore
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Thompson
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Pembina County
- The following are listed by their distance from Poland, with the one closest to Poland listed first.
- Drayton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Pittsburgh
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Pittsburgh is located in Pembina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsburgh
- Saint Thomas
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Kittson County (MN)
- Donaldson
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Donaldson is located in Kittson County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donaldson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 39 people
- Marshall County (MN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Poland, with the one closest to Poland listed first.
- Oslo
(3 miles [4.8 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
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Big Woods is located in Marshall County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Woods
- Alvarado
(10 miles [16.1 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
- Warren
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Argyle
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Stephen
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Polk County (MN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Poland, with the one closest to Poland listed first.
- East Grand Forks
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Mallory
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Mallory is located in Polk County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallory
- Euclid
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Euclid is located in Polk County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euclid
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Poland, see our County-by-County Page for Poland.
Cemeteries Near Poland ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Poland.
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 Poland - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Poland covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Poland, with the one closest to Poland listed first.
- Riverside Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- St. Timothy Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Mesopotamia Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Big Woods Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Kongsvinger Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Swedish Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Swedish Evangelical Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- St. Patrick Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Sacred Heart Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Minto Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Oak Lawn Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Continue List (75 more) ...
- Vega Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Memorial Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Vega Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
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.<2>
While we didn't find Poland in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Poland.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Poland, with the one closest to Poland listed first.
- Ardoch
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Manvel
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Big Woods
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Big Woods is located in Marshall County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Woods
- Minto
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Forest River
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Johnstown
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Johnstown is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
- Voss
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Voss is located in Walsh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voss
- Gilby
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Mekinock
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Kelly
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Kelly is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
- Grafton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Veseleyville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Veseleyville is located in Walsh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Veseleyville
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Tabor
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Tabor is located in Polk County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabor
- Ojata ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Ojata is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ojata
- Inkster
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Poland. See our List of 1890's Communities around Poland.
Newspapers Published in Poland ...
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 72 newspapers that have been published in the area around Poland.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Poland, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Poland.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Poland:
- Websites specific to North Dakota
- Pages specific to Walsh County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Grand Forks County
- Pembina County
- Kittson County
- Marshall County
- Polk County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for North Dakota
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> | 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 Poland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Poland) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |