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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 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 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.

Thompson is located in Grand Forks 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 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reynolds have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Grand Forks
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Holmes
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • 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
    • Emerado
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emerado have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Kelly
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kelly. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
      • Kelly is located in Grand Forks County
    • Manvel
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manvel have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manvel
      • Manvel is located in Grand Forks County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 372 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manvel <2>
    • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Northwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Kempton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kempton
      • Kempton is located in Grand Forks County
    • Larimore
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Gilby
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilby
      • Gilby is located in Grand Forks County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 230 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilby <2>
    • Johnstown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
      • Johnstown is located in Grand Forks County
  • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buxton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Cummings
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Hatton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hatton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillsboro have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Roseville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
      • Roseville is located in Traill County
    • Alton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • 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
    • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alvarado have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alvarado
      • Alvarado is located in Marshall County (MN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 362 people
    • Oslo
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oslo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oslo
      • Oslo is located in Marshall County (MN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 323 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oslo <2>
  • Norman County (MN)
    • Shelly
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shelly have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
  • 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)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mallory. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallory
      • Mallory is located in Polk County (MN)
    • Fisher
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fisher have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
      • Fisher is located in Polk County (MN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
    • Climax
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Climax have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
    • Nielsville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nielsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
    • Crookston
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Shirley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shirley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
      • Shirley is located in Polk County (MN)
    • Euclid
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euclid
      • Euclid is located in Polk County (MN)
    • Gentilly
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly
      • Gentilly is located in Polk County (MN)

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.

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 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)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. James Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. James Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. James Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. James Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. James Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Thompson Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Walle Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Walle Lutheran Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Walle Lutheran Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • East Walle Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Walle Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Walle Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Americus - St. Olaf Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Americus - St. Olaf Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Americus - St. Olaf Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bygland Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bygland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bygland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sunset Memorial Gardens
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunset Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunset Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Jordahlen Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Jordahlen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Jordahlen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Holmes Methodist Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holmes Methodist Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holmes Methodist Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (90 more) ...
    • East Immanuel Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Immanuel Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Immanuel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Rosendahl Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rosendahl Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rosendahl Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Calvary Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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.<4>

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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Merrifield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrifield
    • Merrifield is located in Grand Forks County
  • Reynolds
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reynolds have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Holmes
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • 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
  • Grand Forks
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Buxton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buxton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Mallory
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mallory. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallory
    • Mallory is located in Polk County (MN)
  • East Grand Forks
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Ojata ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ojata have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ojata
    • Ojata is located in Grand Forks County
  • Fisher
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fisher have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
    • Fisher is located in Polk County (MN)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
  • Kelly
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kelly. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
    • Kelly is located in Grand Forks County
  • Freeman
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
    • Freeman is located in Polk County (MN)
  • Hatton
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hatton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Cummings
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Hixon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hixon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hixon
      • Hixon is located in Polk County (MN)
    • 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]<5> of Thompson.

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 Thompson:

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

The official website for Grand Forks County: www.grandforkscountygov.com/

The official website for State of North Dakota: https://www.nd.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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.
<5>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 from Point A (ie- Thompson) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Thompson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.7750, Longitude: -97.1062       In this case, the coordinates for Thompson have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025