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 Thompson (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 Thompson. 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 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.
Thompson is located in Grand Forks 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 Grand Forks County: Polk (MN), Nelson, Steele, Traill & Walsh.
Below are the counties that are near Thompson. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Thompson:
- Grand Forks County (The home county of Thompson)
- The following are listed by their distance from Thompson, with the one closest to Thompson listed first.
- Reynolds
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Grand Forks
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Holmes
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Holmes is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes
- Emerado
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Kelly
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Kelly is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
- Manvel
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Arvilla
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Mekinock
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Northwood
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Kempton
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Kempton is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kempton
- Larimore
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Gilby
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Traill County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thompson, with the one closest to Thompson listed first.
- Buxton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Cummings
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Hatton
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Mayville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Portland
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Caledonia
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Hillsboro
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Roseville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Roseville is located in Traill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
- Alton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Alton is located in Traill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton
- Blanchard
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Marshall County (MN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Thompson, with the one closest to Thompson listed first.
- Alvarado
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Alvarado is located in Marshall County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alvarado
- Population from the 2020 Census: 362 people
- Oslo
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- 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>
- Norman County (MN)
- Shelly
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Shelly is located in Norman County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelly
- Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
- Polk County (MN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Thompson, with the one closest to Thompson listed first.
- East Grand Forks
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Mallory
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mallory is located in Polk County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallory
- Fisher
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Fisher is located in Polk County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
- Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
- Climax
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Climax is located in Polk County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
- Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
- Nielsville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Nielsville is located in Polk County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nielsville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
- Crookston
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Shirley
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Shirley is located in Polk County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
- Euclid
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Euclid is located in Polk County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euclid
- Gentilly
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Gentilly is located in Polk County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Thompson, see our County-by-County Page for Thompson.
Cemeteries Near Thompson ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Thompson.
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 Thompson - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Thompson covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Thompson, with the one closest to Thompson listed first.
- St. James Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- St. James Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Thompson Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Walle Lutheran Church Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- East Walle Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Americus - St. Olaf Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Calvary Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Pioneer Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Bygland Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Sunset Memorial Gardens
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- St. Jordahlen Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Holmes Methodist Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (90 more) ...
- East Immanuel Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Rosendahl Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Calvary Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Thompson had a population of 192 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Thompson had a population of 1,027 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Thompson, with the one closest to Thompson listed first.
- Merrifield
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Merrifield is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrifield
- Reynolds
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Holmes
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Holmes is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes
- Grand Forks
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Buxton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Mallory
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mallory is located in Polk County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallory
- East Grand Forks
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Ojata ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Ojata is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ojata
- Fisher
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Fisher is located in Polk County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
- Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
- Kelly
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Kelly is located in Grand Forks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
- Freeman
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Freeman is located in Polk County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
- Hatton
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Cummings
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Hixon
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Hixon is located in Polk County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hixon
- Mekinock
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Thompson. See our List of 1890's Communities around Thompson.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Thompson ...
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 43 newspapers that have been published in the area around Thompson.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Thompson. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Thompson and those printed in the larger area surrounding Thompson.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3> of Thompson.
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 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 Thompson:
- Websites specific to North Dakota
- Pages specific to Grand Forks County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Traill County
- Marshall County
- Norman 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 Thompson, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Thompson) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |