RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of North Dakota >> McHenry County >> Riga >> 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 Riga (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 Riga. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Riga is located in McHenry 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 McHenry County: Bottineau, McLean, Pierce, Renville, Sheridan & Ward.

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

  • McHenry County     (The home county of Riga)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riga, with the one closest to Riga listed first.
    • Granville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Rising ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rising
      • Rising is located in McHenry County
    • Towner
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Bantry
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Karlsruhe
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Karlsruhe have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Karlsruhe
      • Karlsruhe is located in McHenry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Karlsruhe <1>
    • Genoa
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genoa
      • Genoa is located in McHenry County
    • Deering
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deering have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deering
      • Deering is located in McHenry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 117 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deering <1>
    • Upham
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Upham have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upham
      • Upham is located in McHenry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 138 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Upham <1>
    • Bergen
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bergen have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bergen
      • Bergen is located in McHenry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7 people
    • Voltaire
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Voltaire have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voltaire
      • Voltaire is located in McHenry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 44 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Voltaire <1>
    • Velva
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Velva have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Velva
      • Velva is located in McHenry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,185 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Velva <1>
    • Berwick
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Berwick. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berwick
      • Berwick is located in McHenry County
  • Bottineau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riga, with the one closest to Riga listed first.
    • Kramer
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kramer have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kramer
      • Kramer is located in Bottineau County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 28 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kramer <1>
    • Russell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell
      • Russell is located in Bottineau County
    • White ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
      • White is located in Bottineau County
    • Willow City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
    • Gardena
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gardena have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardena
      • Gardena is located in Bottineau County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 28 people
    • Newburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Pierce County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riga, with the one closest to Riga listed first.
    • Barton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barton
      • Barton is located in Pierce County
    • Orrin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Renville County
    • Glenburn
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Ward County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riga, with the one closest to Riga listed first.
    • Surrey
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Surrey have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Surrey
      • Surrey is located in Ward County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,405 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Surrey <1>
    • Sawyer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sawyer have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawyer
      • Sawyer is located in Ward County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 324 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sawyer <1>
    • Minot
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Ruthville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruthville
      • Ruthville is located in Ward County

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

Cemeteries Near Riga ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Riga.

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

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

  • Thompson Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Thompson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Thompson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Granville Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trinity Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trinity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Stnenkjer Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stnenkjer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stnenkjer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Verendrye Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Verendrye Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Verendrye Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. John Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. John Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Norwich Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Norwich Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Norwich Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Westgaard Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Westgaard Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Westgaard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St.s Peter & Paul Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St.s Peter & Paul Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St.s Peter & Paul Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mouse River Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mouse River Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mouse River Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Saline Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Saline Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Saline Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Walley Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Walley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Walley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (34 more) ...
    • St.s Peter & Paul Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St.s Peter & Paul Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St.s Peter & Paul Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Bantry Union Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Deering Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Deering Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Deering 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>

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

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

  • Denbigh
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Denbigh have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denbigh
    • Denbigh is located in McHenry County
  • Granville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Berwick
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Berwick. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berwick
    • Berwick is located in McHenry County
  • Logan
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Logan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logan
    • Logan is located in Ward County
  • Minot
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Barton
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barton
    • Barton is located in Pierce County
  • Willow City
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>

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

Newspapers Published in Riga ...

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 52 newspapers that have been published in the area around Riga.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Riga, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Riga.

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 helpful 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 Riga:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Riga. 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 Riga, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- Riga) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Riga. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.2939, Longitude: -100.7074       In this case, the coordinates for Riga have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

Copyright 2025
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: 28 Apr 2025