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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 Bunyan (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 Bunyan. 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 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.

Bunyan is located in Polk County.

To see how the shape of Wisconsin's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Polk County: Chisago (MN), Washington (MN), Barron, Burnett, Dunn & Saint Croix.

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

  • Polk County     (The home county of Bunyan)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bunyan, with the one closest to Bunyan listed first.
    • Balsam Lake
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Balsam Lake is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Balsam Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 978 people
    • Milltown
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Milltown is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milltown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 875 people
    • Luck
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Luck is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luck
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,051 people
    • Volga ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Centuria
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Amery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Deronda
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Frederic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Frederic is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frederic
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,080 people
    • Saint Croix Falls
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Clayton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Clayton is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 541 people
    • Clam Falls
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Atlas
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Barron County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bunyan, with the one closest to Bunyan listed first.
    • Turtle Lake
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Almena
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Almena is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 638 people
    • Cumberland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Cumberland is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,097 people
    • Twin Town
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Twin Town is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Town
    • Poskin
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Prairie Farm
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Prairie Farm is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Farm
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 434 people
    • Barron
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Hillsdale
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Haugen
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Haugen is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haugen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
    • Cameron
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Cameron is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,798 people
    • Rice Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Rice Lake is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,498 people
    • Dallas
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Burnett County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bunyan, with the one closest to Bunyan listed first.
    • Siren
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Alpha
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Hertel
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Bashaw
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Grantsburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Webster
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Webster is located in Burnett County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 620 people
    • Randall
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Randall is located in Burnett County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randall
  • Dunn County
    • Ridgeland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Ridgeland is located in Dunn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 276 people
  • Saint Croix County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bunyan, with the one closest to Bunyan listed first.
    • Deer Park
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Star Prairie
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Star Prairie is located in Saint Croix County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star Prairie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 549 people
    • New Richmond
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Erin Corner
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Somerset
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Glenwood City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Glenwood City is located in Saint Croix County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,214 people
  • Washburn County
  • Chisago County (MN)
  • Washington County (MN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bunyan, with the one closest to Bunyan listed first.
    • Otisville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Scandia
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Marine-on-Saint-Croix
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Bunyan ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bunyan.

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

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

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

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, Bunyan had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Balsam Lake
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Balsam Lake is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Balsam Lake
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 978 people
  • Volga ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • West Denmark
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • West Denmark is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Denmark
  • Joel
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Joel is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joel
  • Amery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Deronda
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Turtle Lake
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Saint Croix Falls
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Richardson
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Richardson is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richardson
  • Little Falls
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Little Falls is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Falls
  • Clayton
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Clayton is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 541 people
  • Comstock
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Comstock is located in Barron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comstock
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Taylors Falls
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Nye
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Nye is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nye
    • Clam Falls
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Bunyan ...

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 102 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bunyan.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bunyan, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bunyan.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Bunyan:

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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bunyan) 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 Bunyan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.