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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 Portland (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 Portland. 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 northeast 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 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.

Portland is located in Traill 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 Traill County: Norman (MN), Polk (MN), Cass, Grand Forks & Steele.

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

  • Traill County     (The home county of Portland)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Portland, with the one closest to Portland listed first.
    • Mayville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Roseville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Hatton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hatton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatton
      • Hatton is located in Traill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 731 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hatton <1>
    • Clifford
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clifford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifford
      • Clifford is located in Traill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 43 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clifford <1>
    • Blanchard
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Cummings
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Buxton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buxton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buxton
      • Buxton is located in Traill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 316 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buxton <1>
    • Galesburg
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Galesburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galesburg
      • Galesburg is located in Traill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 101 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Galesburg <1>
    • Hillsboro
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillsboro have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsboro
      • Hillsboro is located in Traill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,624 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hillsboro <1>
    • Greenfield
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Greenfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
      • Greenfield is located in Traill County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Greenfield
      • From Portland to Greenfield
    • Alton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton
      • Alton is located in Traill County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Alton
      • From Portland to Alton
    • Kelso
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Barnes County
    • Pillsbury
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pillsbury have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pillsbury
      • Pillsbury is located in Barnes County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11 people
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Portland, with the one closest to Portland listed first.
    • Hunter
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Page
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Erie
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Erie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
      • Erie is located in Cass County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Erie <1>
    • Nolan ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Nolan. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nolan
      • Nolan is located in Cass County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Nolan
      • From Portland to Nolan
    • Arthur
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Gardner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gardner have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardner
      • Gardner is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 73 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gardner <1>
  • Grand Forks County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Portland, with the one closest to Portland listed first.
    • Holmes
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Holmes. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes
      • Holmes is located in Grand Forks County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Holmes
      • From Portland to Holmes
    • Reynolds
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reynolds have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynolds
      • Reynolds is located in Grand Forks County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Reynolds <1>
    • Northwood
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Northwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northwood
      • Northwood is located in Grand Forks County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 884 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Northwood <1>
    • Thompson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thompson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson
      • Thompson is located in Grand Forks County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,027 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thompson <1>
    • Kempton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Arvilla
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Emerado
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emerado have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerado
      • Emerado is located in Grand Forks County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 461 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Emerado <1>
    • Larimore
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Steele County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Portland, with the one closest to Portland listed first.
    • Sherbrooke
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sherbrooke. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherbrooke
      • Sherbrooke is located in Steele County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sherbrooke
      • From Portland to Sherbrooke
    • Hope
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
      • Hope is located in Steele County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 250 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hope <1>
    • Finley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Sharon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Norman County (MN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Portland, with the one closest to Portland listed first.
    • Shelly
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shelly have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelly
      • Shelly is located in Norman County (MN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
    • Halstad
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Halstad have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halstad
      • Halstad is located in Norman County (MN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 548 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Halstad <1>
    • Hendrum
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Polk County (MN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Portland, with the one closest to Portland listed first.
    • Nielsville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nielsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nielsville
      • Nielsville is located in Polk County (MN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
    • Climax
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Climax have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
      • Climax is located in Polk County (MN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people

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

Cemeteries Near Portland ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Portland.

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

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

  • Aurdal Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Aurdal Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Aurdal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bruflat Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bruflat Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bruflat Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Morgan Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Morgan Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Morgan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Severson Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Severson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Severson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Clifford Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clifford Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clifford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Aal Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • North Prairie Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Prairie Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Prairie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Holmes Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holmes Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holmes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethany Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethany Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethany Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Stavens Memorial Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stavens Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stavens Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Carlson Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Carlson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Carlson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Zoar Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zoar Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zoar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (81 more) ...
    • St. Johns Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Arnegard Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Arnegard Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Arnegard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Sodeberg Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sodeberg Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sodeberg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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 Portland had a population of 367 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Portland had a population of 585 people.

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

  • Mayville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Roseville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Murray
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Murray have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murray
    • Murray is located in Traill County
  • Clifford
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clifford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifford
    • Clifford is located in Traill County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 43 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clifford <1>
  • Hatton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hatton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatton
    • Hatton is located in Traill County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 731 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hatton <1>
  • Blanchard
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Cummings
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Buxton
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buxton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buxton
    • Buxton is located in Traill County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 316 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buxton <1>
  • Galesburg
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Galesburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galesburg
    • Galesburg is located in Traill County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 101 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Galesburg <1>
  • Hillsboro
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillsboro have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsboro
    • Hillsboro is located in Traill County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,624 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hillsboro <1>
  • Holmes
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Holmes. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes
    • Holmes is located in Grand Forks County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Holmes
    • From Portland to Holmes
  • Reynolds
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reynolds have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynolds
    • Reynolds is located in Grand Forks County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Reynolds <1>
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Sherbrooke
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sherbrooke. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherbrooke
      • Sherbrooke is located in Steele County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sherbrooke
      • From Portland to Sherbrooke
    • Greenfield
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Greenfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
      • Greenfield is located in Traill County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Greenfield
      • From Portland to Greenfield
    • Alton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton
      • Alton is located in Traill County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Alton
      • From Portland to Alton

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Portland ...

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 Portland.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Portland. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Portland and those printed in the larger area surrounding Portland.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6> of Portland.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Portland:

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

The official website for State of North Dakota: https://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>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 Portland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- Portland) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Portland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.4995, Longitude: -97.3710    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025