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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 Shell Lake (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 Shell Lake. 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.

Name Variations for Shell Lake ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Shell Lake: Shell Lk.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Shell Lake. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Shell Lake.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 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.

Shell Lake is located in Washburn County and is the County Seat.

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 Washburn County: Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Rusk & Sawyer.

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

  • Washburn County     (The home county of Shell Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shell Lake, with the one closest to Shell Lake listed first.
    • Spooner
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Madge
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Nobleton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Earl
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Birchwood
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Birchwood is located in Washburn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birchwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 426 people
    • Minong
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Minong is located in Washburn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minong
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 506 people
  • Barron County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shell Lake, with the one closest to Shell Lake listed first.
    • Haugen
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Haugen is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haugen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
    • Cumberland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Cumberland is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,097 people
    • Rice Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Rice Lake is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,498 people
    • Almena
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Almena is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 638 people
    • Barron
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Poskin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Cameron
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Cameron is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,798 people
    • Twin Town
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Twin Town is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Town
    • Turtle Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hillsdale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Burnett County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shell Lake, with the one closest to Shell Lake listed first.
    • Bashaw
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Hertel
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Webb Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Siren
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Webster
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Webster is located in Burnett County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 620 people
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shell Lake, with the one closest to Shell Lake listed first.
    • Clam Falls
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Frederic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Frederic is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frederic
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,080 people
    • Bunyan
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Luck
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Luck is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luck
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,051 people
  • Rusk County
  • Sawyer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shell Lake, with the one closest to Shell Lake listed first.
    • Stone Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Reserve
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Hayward
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Hayward is located in Sawyer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayward
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,352 people
    • Couderay
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Couderay is located in Sawyer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Couderay
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
    • Little Round Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Little Round Lake is located in Sawyer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Round Lake

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

Cemeteries Near Shell Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shell Lake.

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 Shell Lake - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Shell Lake, with the one closest to Shell Lake 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Shell Lake had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Shell Lake had a population of 1,318 people.

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

  • Spooner
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Bashaw
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Barronett
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Barronett is located in Barron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barronett
  • Haugen
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Haugen is located in Barron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haugen
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
  • Nobleton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Cumberland
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Cumberland is located in Barron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,097 people
  • Clam Falls
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Comstock
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Comstock is located in Barron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comstock
  • Rice Lake
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Rice Lake is located in Barron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Lake
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,498 people
  • Almena
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Almena is located in Barron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 638 people
  • Barron
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
  • Cameron
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Cameron is located in Barron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,798 people
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Canton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Canton is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canton
    • Minong
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Minong is located in Washburn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minong
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 506 people
    • Turtle Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Shell Lake ...

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 69 newspapers that have been published in the area around Shell Lake.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Shell Lake. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Shell Lake and those printed in the larger area surrounding Shell Lake.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<1> of Shell Lake.

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 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 Shell Lake:

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Shell Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Shell Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.