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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 Urbana (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 Urbana. 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 hospitals and 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.

Urbana is located in Barnes 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 Barnes County: Cass, Griggs, LaMoure, Ransom, Steele & Stutsman.

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

  • Barnes County     (The home county of Urbana)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Urbana, with the one closest to Urbana listed first.
    • Eckelson
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Sanborn
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Leal
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Leal is also located in Barnes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leal
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18 people
    • Rogers
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Wimbledon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • North Valley City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • North Valley City is also located in Barnes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Valley City
    • Valley City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Dazey
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Dazey is also located in Barnes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dazey
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 93 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dazey <1>
    • Litchville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Ashtabula ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Ashtabula was located in Barnes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashtabula
    • Kathryn
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Sibley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Sibley is also located in Barnes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sibley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 28 people
  • Griggs County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Urbana, with the one closest to Urbana listed first.
    • Walum
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Walum is located in Griggs County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walum
    • Hannaford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • LaMoure County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Urbana, with the one closest to Urbana listed first.
    • Marion
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Adrian
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Adrian is located in LaMoure County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adrian
    • Saratoga Springs ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Saratoga Springs was located in LaMoure County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saratoga Springs
    • Dickey
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Nortonville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Nortonville is located in LaMoure County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nortonville
  • Stutsman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Urbana, with the one closest to Urbana listed first.
    • Spiritwood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Bloom
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Bloom is located in Stutsman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloom
    • Spiritwood Lake
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Spiritwood Lake is located in Stutsman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spiritwood Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
    • Ypsilanti
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Frontier Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Frontier Village is located in Stutsman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frontier Village
    • Jamestown Junction
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Jamestown Junction is located in Stutsman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown Junction
    • Jamestown
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Parkhurst
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Parkhurst is located in Stutsman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkhurst
    • Montpelier
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Courtenay
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Buchanan
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Millarton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Millarton is located in Stutsman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millarton

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

Cemeteries Near Urbana ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Urbana.

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

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

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

  • Spiritwood Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • St. Peter Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Nebo Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Valley Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Elim Evangelical Free Church Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Sunset Gardens Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Jamestown Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • McGinnis Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Highland Home Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (45 more) ...

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 in 1895, Urbana had railroad service and no post office.

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

  • Spiritwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Sanborn
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Bloom
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Bloom is located in Stutsman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloom
  • Ypsilanti
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Odell ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Odell was located in Barnes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odell
  • Berea
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Berea is also located in Barnes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berea
  • Jamestown
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Parkhurst
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Parkhurst is located in Stutsman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkhurst
  • Montpelier
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Valley City
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Dazey
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Dazey is also located in Barnes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dazey
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 93 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dazey <1>
  • Buchanan
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Hastings
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Hastings is also located in Barnes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hastings
    • Ashtabula ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Ashtabula was located in Barnes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashtabula
    • Adrian
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Adrian is located in LaMoure County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adrian

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

Newspapers Published in Urbana ...

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 60 newspapers that have been published in the area around Urbana.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Urbana, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Urbana.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Urbana:

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