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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 Turtle 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 Turtle 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 Turtle 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 Turtle Lake: Turtle Lk.

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

Turtle Lake is primarily located in Barron County. A portion of Turtle Lake extends into 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 Barron County: Burnett, Chippewa, Dunn, Polk, Rusk, Saint Croix, Sawyer & Washburn.

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

  • Barron County     (The home county of Turtle Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Turtle Lake, with the one closest to Turtle Lake listed first.
    • Almena
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Almena is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 638 people
    • Twin Town
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Twin Town is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Town
    • Poskin
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Cumberland
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Cumberland is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,097 people
    • Prairie Farm
      (13 miles [20.9 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
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Hillsdale
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Dallas
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Cameron
      (19 miles [30.6 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
      (20 miles [32.2 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
    • Haugen
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Haugen is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haugen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
    • Chetek
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Chetek is located in Barron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chetek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,094 people
  • Burnett County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Turtle Lake, with the one closest to Turtle Lake listed first.
    • Bashaw
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Hertel
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Siren
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Dunn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Turtle Lake, with the one closest to Turtle Lake listed first.
    • Ridgeland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Ridgeland is located in Dunn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 276 people
    • Boyceville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Downing
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Wheeler
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Wheeler is located in Dunn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 353 people
    • Knapp
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Turtle Lake, with the one closest to Turtle Lake listed first.
    • Clayton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Clayton is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 541 people
    • Clear Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Bunyan
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Amery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Volga ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Deronda
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Balsam Lake
      (15 miles [24.1 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
      (19 miles [30.6 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
      (20 miles [32.2 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
    • Centuria
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Clam Falls
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Frederic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Frederic is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frederic
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,080 people
  • Rusk County
  • Saint Croix County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Turtle Lake, with the one closest to Turtle Lake listed first.
    • Deer Park
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Glenwood City
      (23 miles [37 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
    • Star Prairie
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Star Prairie is located in Saint Croix County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star Prairie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 549 people
    • Erin Corner
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • New Richmond
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hersey
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Wilson
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Washburn County
  • Chisago County (MN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Turtle Lake, with the one closest to Turtle Lake listed first.
    • Taylors Falls
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Franconia
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Shafer
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Shafer is located in Chisago County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shafer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,144 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shafer <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Turtle Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Turtle 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 Turtle Lake - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Turtle Lake, with the one closest to Turtle 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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Turtle Lake had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Turtle Lake had a population of 990 people.

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

  • Joel
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Joel is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joel
  • Richardson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Richardson is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richardson
  • Clayton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Clayton is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 541 people
  • Almena
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Almena is located in Barron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 638 people
  • Comstock
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Comstock is located in Barron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comstock
  • Clear Lake
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Cumberland
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Cumberland is located in Barron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,097 people
  • Volga ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Amery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Bunyan
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Prairie Farm
    (13 miles [20.9 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
  • Hillsdale
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Turtle 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 87 newspapers that have been published in the area around Turtle Lake.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Turtle Lake. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Turtle Lake and those printed in the larger area surrounding Turtle Lake.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Turtle Lake.

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 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 Turtle Lake:

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>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 Turtle Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Turtle Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.