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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 Preston (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 Preston. 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.

Preston 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 Preston. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Preston:

  • Traill County     (The home county of Preston)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
    • Blanchard
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Greenfield
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
      • Greenfield is located in Traill County
    • Alton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton
      • Alton is located in Traill County
    • Kelso
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelso
      • Kelso is located in Traill County
    • Hillsboro
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillsboro have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
    • Clifford
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clifford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
    • Galesburg
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Galesburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
    • Roseville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
      • Roseville is located in Traill County
    • Grandin
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grandin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandin
      • Grandin is located in Traill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 171 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grandin <1>
    • Mayville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Portland
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Cummings
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Caledonia
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Barnes County
    • Pillsbury
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pillsbury have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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 Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
    • Hunter
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hunter. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter
      • Hunter is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 251 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hunter <1>
    • Arthur
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Erie
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Erie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
    • Gardner
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gardner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
    • Nolan ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nolan
      • Nolan is located in Cass County
    • Page
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Amenia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Argusville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argusville
      • Argusville is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 467 people
    • Ayr
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ayr have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayr
      • Ayr is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ayr <1>
    • Absaraka
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Harwood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Casselton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Wheatland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Grand Forks County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
    • Reynolds
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reynolds have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
    • Holmes
      (28 miles [45.1 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes
      • Holmes is located in Grand Forks County
  • Steele County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
    • Hope
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
    • Sherbrooke
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherbrooke
      • Sherbrooke is located in Steele County
  • Clay County (MN)
    • Georgetown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Georgetown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
      • Georgetown is located in Clay County (MN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
  • Norman County (MN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
    • Halstad
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Halstad have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hendrum
      • Hendrum is located in Norman County (MN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 282 people
    • Shelly
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shelly have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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
    • Perley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perley
      • Perley is located in Norman County (MN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 83 people
  • Polk County (MN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
    • Nielsville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nielsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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 northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Climax have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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 Preston, see our County-by-County Page for Preston.

Cemeteries Near Preston ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Preston.

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

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

  • Bohnsack Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bohnsack Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bohnsack Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Arnegard Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • 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.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Grandin Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grandin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grandin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Clifford Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • 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.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Elm River Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elm River Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elm River Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Aal Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Elmwood Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elmwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elmwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lynn Elton Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lynn Elton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lynn Elton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Rose Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Rose Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Rose Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Immanuel Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Immanuel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Immanuel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Good Samaritan Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Good Samaritan Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Good Samaritan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (77 more) ...
    • Rose Valley Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rose Valley Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rose Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Carlson Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • 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.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Erie Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Erie Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Erie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>

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

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

  • Blanchard
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Greenfield
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • 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.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
    • Greenfield is located in Traill County
  • Hunter
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hunter. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter
    • Hunter is located in Cass County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 251 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hunter <1>
  • Murray
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Murray have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murray
    • Murray is located in Traill County
  • Kelso
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelso
    • Kelso is located in Traill County
  • Alton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • 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.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton
    • Alton is located in Traill County
  • Galesburg
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Galesburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillsboro have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
  • Clifford
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clifford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
  • Grandin
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grandin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandin
    • Grandin is located in Traill County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 171 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grandin <1>
  • Roseville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
    • Roseville is located in Traill County
  • Mayville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Arthur
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Portland
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Cummings
      (15 miles [24.1 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 Preston. See our List of 1890's Communities around Preston.

Newspapers Published in Preston ...

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 53 newspapers that have been published in the area around Preston.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Preston, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Preston.

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 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 Preston:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Preston. 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>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.
<3>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.
<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 Preston, 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- Preston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Preston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.3122, Longitude: -97.2187       In this case, the coordinates for Preston have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025