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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Taft (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 Taft. 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 and hospitals 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.

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

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

  • Traill County     (The home county of Taft)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Taft, with the one closest to Taft listed first.
    • Cummings
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Hillsboro
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Alton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Alton is located in Traill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton
    • Caledonia
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Kelso
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Kelso is located in Traill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelso
    • Buxton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Blanchard
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Mayville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Greenfield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Greenfield is located in Traill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
    • Portland
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Roseville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Roseville is located in Traill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
    • Grandin
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Clifford
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Taft, with the one closest to Taft listed first.
    • Hunter
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Gardner
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Arthur
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Erie
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Argusville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Argusville is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argusville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 467 people
  • Grand Forks County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Taft, with the one closest to Taft listed first.
    • Reynolds
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Holmes
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Holmes is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes
    • Thompson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Northwood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Steele County
    • Sherbrooke
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Sherbrooke is located in Steele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherbrooke
  • Clay County (MN)
    • Georgetown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Georgetown is located in Clay County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
  • Norman County (MN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Taft, with the one closest to Taft listed first.
    • Shelly
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Shelly is located in Norman County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
    • Halstad
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Hendrum
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Hendrum is located in Norman County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hendrum
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 282 people
    • Perley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Perley is located in Norman County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 83 people
    • Ada
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Ada is located in Norman County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,556 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ada <1>
  • Polk County (MN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Taft, with the one closest to Taft listed first.
    • Nielsville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Nielsville is located in Polk County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nielsville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
    • Climax
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Climax is located in Polk County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
    • Beltrami
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Beltrami is located in Polk County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
    • Fisher
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Fisher is located in Polk County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
    • Mallory
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Mallory is located in Polk County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallory
    • Crookston
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Taft ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Taft.

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 Taft - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Taft covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Riverside Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Lynn Elton Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • St. Rose Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Elmwood Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Immanuel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Cummings Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Arnegard Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Carlson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Aal Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • North Prairie Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Sodeberg Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Salem Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (97 more) ...
    • Reeves Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • West Immanuel Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Bohnsack Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)

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.<3>

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

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

  • Hillsboro
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Cummings
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Alton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Alton is located in Traill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton
  • Caledonia
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Murray
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Murray is located in Traill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murray
  • Kelso
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Kelso is located in Traill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelso
  • Blanchard
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Buxton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Nielsville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Nielsville is located in Polk County (MN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nielsville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
  • Mayville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Halstad
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Greenfield
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Greenfield is located in Traill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Reynolds
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Portland
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Roseville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Roseville is located in Traill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville

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

Newspapers Published in Taft ...

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 30 newspapers that have been published in the area around Taft.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Taft, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Taft.

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 Taft:

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 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.
<3>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 Taft, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Taft) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.