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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 Velva (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 Velva. 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.

Velva is located in McHenry 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 McHenry County: Bottineau, McLean, Pierce, Renville, Sheridan & Ward.

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

  • McHenry County     (The home county of Velva)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Velva, with the one closest to Velva listed first.
    • Voltaire
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Voltaire have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voltaire
      • Voltaire is located in McHenry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 44 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Voltaire <2>
    • Genoa
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genoa
      • Genoa is located in McHenry County
    • Bergen
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bergen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bergen
      • Bergen is located in McHenry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7 people
    • Karlsruhe
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Karlsruhe have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Karlsruhe
      • Karlsruhe is located in McHenry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Karlsruhe <2>
    • Granville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Kongsberg
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kongsberg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kongsberg
      • Kongsberg is located in McHenry County
    • Balfour
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Balfour have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Balfour
      • Balfour is located in McHenry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 27 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Balfour <2>
    • Rising ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rising
      • Rising is located in McHenry County
    • Deering
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deering have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deering
      • Deering is located in McHenry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 117 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deering <2>
    • Kief
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Guthrie
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guthrie
      • Guthrie is located in McHenry County
    • Drake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Drake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drake
      • Drake is located in McHenry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 267 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Drake <2>
  • McLean County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Velva, with the one closest to Velva listed first.
    • Ruso
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Benedict
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Benedict have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benedict
      • Benedict is located in McLean County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Benedict <2>
    • Butte
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Butte have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butte
      • Butte is located in McLean County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 76 people
    • Max
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Max
      • Max is located in McLean County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 348 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Max <2>
  • Ward County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Velva, with the one closest to Velva listed first.
    • Sawyer
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sawyer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawyer
      • Sawyer is located in Ward County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 324 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sawyer <2>
    • Surrey
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Surrey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Surrey
      • Surrey is located in Ward County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,405 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Surrey <2>
    • Minot
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Burlington
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Ruthville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruthville
      • Ruthville is located in Ward County
    • Douglas
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Velva ...

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 52 newspapers that have been published in the area around Velva.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Velva. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Velva and those printed in the larger area surrounding Velva.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3> of Velva.

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 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 Velva:

Cemeteries Near Velva ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Velva.

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

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

  • Walley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Walley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Walley Cemetery
  • Westgaard Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Westgaard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Westgaard Cemetery
  • Sawyer Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sawyer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sawyer Cemetery
  • Stnenkjer Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stnenkjer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stnenkjer Cemetery
  • South Prairie Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Prairie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Prairie Cemetery
  • Verendrye Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Verendrye Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Verendrye Cemetery
  • St. John Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. John Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John Cemetery
  • Bergen Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bergen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bergen Cemetery
  • Hope Lutheran Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trinity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trinity Cemetery
  • Center Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Center Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Center Cemetery
  • Norwich Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Norwich Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Norwich Cemetery
  • Continue List   (25 more) ...
    • Norwegian Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Norwegian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Norwegian Cemetery
    • St.s Peter & Paul Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St.s Peter & Paul Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St.s Peter & Paul Cemetery
    • Ruso Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 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.<5>

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

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

  • Logan
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Logan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logan
    • Logan is located in Ward County
  • Granville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Minot
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Denbigh
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Denbigh have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denbigh
    • Denbigh is located in McHenry County
  • Burlington
    (27 miles [43.5 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 Velva. See our List of 1890's Communities around Velva.

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

The official website for State of North Dakota: 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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Velva) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Velva. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.0583, Longitude: -100.9315       In this case, the coordinates for Velva have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<5>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 Velva, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024