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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 Wessington (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 Wessington. 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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Wessington is primarily located in Beadle County. A portion of Wessington extends into Hand County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Beadle County: Clark, Hand, Jerauld, Kingsbury, Miner, Sanborn & Spink.

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

  • Beadle County     (The home county of Wessington)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wessington, with the one closest to Wessington listed first.
    • Wolsey
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolsey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolsey
      • Wolsey is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 400 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wolsey <2>
    • Bonilla
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonilla
      • Bonilla is located in Beadle County
    • Broadland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadland
      • Broadland is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 32 people
    • Virgil
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virgil have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgil
      • Virgil is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Virgil <2>
    • Hitchcock
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hitchcock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hitchcock
      • Hitchcock is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hitchcock <2>
    • Huron
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron
      • Huron is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,420 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Huron <2>
    • Huron Colony
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huron Colony have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron Colony
      • Huron Colony is located in Beadle County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 403 people
    • Morningside
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morningside
      • Morningside is located in Beadle County
  • Faulk County
    • Zell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Zell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zell
      • Zell is located in Faulk County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 65 people
  • Hand County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wessington, with the one closest to Wessington listed first.
    • Saint Lawrence
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Lawrence have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Lawrence
      • Saint Lawrence is located in Hand County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Lawrence <2>
    • Miller
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Florence ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Florence have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
      • Florence is located in Hand County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 374 people
    • Ames
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ames
      • Ames is located in Hand County
    • Ree Heights
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ree Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ree Heights
      • Ree Heights is located in Hand County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 58 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ree Heights <2>
    • Polo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Polo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polo
      • Polo is located in Hand County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 227 people
  • Jerauld County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wessington, with the one closest to Wessington listed first.
    • Alpena
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpena have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpena
      • Alpena is located in Jerauld County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alpena <2>
    • Wessington Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Lane
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lane have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane
      • Lane is located in Jerauld County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lane <2>
  • Spink County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wessington, with the one closest to Wessington listed first.
    • Spottswood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spottswood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spottswood
      • Spottswood is located in Spink County
    • Tulare
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tulare have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulare
      • Tulare is located in Spink County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 209 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tulare <2>
    • Spink Colony
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spink Colony have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spink Colony
      • Spink Colony is located in Spink County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 155 people
    • Redfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Wessington ...

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 55 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wessington.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 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 Wessington:

Cemeteries Near Wessington ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wessington.

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

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

  • Wessington Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Wessington Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside of Wessington
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wessington Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #97801 <4>
  • McCord Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • McNair Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McNair Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McNair Cemetery
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
  • Rosehill Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rosehill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rosehill Cemetery
  • Beulah Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Beulah Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Beulah Cemetery
  • Wolsey Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • St. Lawrence Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Lawrence Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Lawrence Cemetery
  • Bonilla Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bonilla Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bonilla Cemetery
  • St. Anns Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • G A R Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the G A R Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the G A R Cemetery
  • Garfield Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Garfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Garfield Cemetery
  • Continue List   (32 more) ...
    • Sunbeam Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunbeam Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunbeam Cemetery
    • Buffalo Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Buffalo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Buffalo Cemetery
    • Burdette Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Burdette Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Burdette 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Wessington had a population of 150 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Wessington had a population of 179 people.

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

  • Wolsey
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolsey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolsey
    • Wolsey is located in Beadle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 400 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wolsey <2>
  • Saint Lawrence
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Lawrence have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Lawrence
    • Saint Lawrence is located in Hand County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Lawrence <2>
  • Bonilla
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonilla
    • Bonilla is located in Beadle County
  • Miller
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Sweetland ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sweetland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetland
    • Sweetland is located in Hand County
  • Spottswood
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spottswood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spottswood
    • Spottswood is located in Spink County
  • Virgil
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virgil have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgil
    • Virgil is located in Beadle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 18 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Virgil <2>
  • Broadland
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadland
    • Broadland is located in Beadle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 32 people
  • Burdette
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burdette have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burdette
    • Burdette is located in Hand County
  • Hitchcock
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hitchcock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hitchcock
    • Hitchcock is located in Beadle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hitchcock <2>
  • James Valley Junction
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for James Valley Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for James Valley Junction
    • James Valley Junction is located in Beadle County
  • Tulare
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tulare have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulare
    • Tulare is located in Spink County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 209 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tulare <2>
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Florence ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Florence have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
      • Florence is located in Hand County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 374 people
    • Ames
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ames
      • Ames is located in Hand County
    • Alpena
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpena have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpena
      • Alpena is located in Jerauld County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alpena <2>

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

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

The official website for Beadle County: www.beadlecounty.org/

The official website for State of South Dakota: sd.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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Wessington) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wessington. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.4541, Longitude: -98.6970       In this case, the coordinates for Wessington 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 Wessington, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024