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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 Van Hook (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 Van Hook. 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.

A Few Details for Van Hook ...

While it's still very early in our research, we found that:

  • Van Hook was founded in 1914.
  • It was incorporated in 1915.

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 and doctors 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.

Van Hook is located in Mountrail 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 Mountrail County: Burke, Dunn, McKenzie, McLean, Ward & Williams.

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

  • Mountrail County     (The home county of Van Hook)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Van Hook, with the one closest to Van Hook listed first.
    • New Town
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Sanish
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanish
      • Sanish is located in Mountrail County
    • Parshall
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Belden
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belden
      • Belden is located in Mountrail County
    • Plaza
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plaza have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plaza
      • Plaza is located in Mountrail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 211 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plaza <1>
    • Stanley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Ross
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ross
      • Ross is located in Mountrail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ross <1>
    • Palermo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Blaisdell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Dunn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Van Hook, with the one closest to Van Hook listed first.
    • Independance ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Independance. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independance
      • Independance is located in Dunn County
    • Twin Buttes
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Buttes
      • Twin Buttes is located in Dunn County
  • McKenzie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Van Hook, with the one closest to Van Hook listed first.
    • Four Bears Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Bears Village
      • Four Bears Village is located in McKenzie County
    • Mandaree
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mandaree have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mandaree
      • Mandaree is located in McKenzie County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mandaree <1>
    • Keene
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • McLean County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Van Hook, with the one closest to Van Hook listed first.
    • Charging Eagle ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Charging Eagle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charging Eagle
      • Charging Eagle is located in McLean County
    • Shell Creek ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shell Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shell Creek
      • Shell Creek is located in McLean County
    • Lucky Mound ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lucky Mound. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucky Mound
      • Lucky Mound is located in McLean County
    • Elbowoods ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elbowoods. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbowoods
      • Elbowoods is located in McLean County
    • Roseglen
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • White Shield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Shield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Shield
      • White Shield is located in McLean County
  • Mercer County
    • Red Butte ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Red Butte. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Butte
      • Red Butte is located in Mercer County
  • Ward County
    • Makoti
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Van Hook ...

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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around Van Hook.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Van Hook. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Van Hook and those printed in the larger area surrounding Van Hook.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4> of Van Hook.

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 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 Van Hook:

Cemeteries Near Van Hook ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Van Hook.

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

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

  • Finstad Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Riverview Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverview Cemetery
  • Grand Valley Lutheran Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Parshall Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • St. Bridget's Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Holy Family US Scouts Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Snowbird Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Epworth Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Goodbird Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Goodbird Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Goodbird Cemetery
  • Johns Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Bethany Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethany Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethany Cemetery
  • First Lutheran Wabek Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (27 more) ...
    • Lutheran Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lutheran Cemetery
    • Queen of Peace Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Queen of Peace Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Queen of Peace Cemetery
    • Sacred Heart Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sacred Heart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sacred Heart Cemetery

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.<6>

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

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

  • Stanley
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
  • Ross
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ross
    • Ross is located in Mountrail County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ross <1>

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

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

The official website for State of North Dakota: 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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Van Hook) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Van Hook. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.9374, Longitude: -102.3580    
<5>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.
<6>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 Van Hook, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024