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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 Hatfield (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 Hatfield. 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 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.

Hatfield is located in Pipestone County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Pipestone County: Lincoln, Lyon, Murray, Rock, Brookings (SD), Minnehaha (SD) & Moody (SD).

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

  • Pipestone County     (The home county of Hatfield)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hatfield, with the one closest to Hatfield listed first.
    • Trosky
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Woodstock
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Pipestone
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Edgerton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Holland
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Holland is located in Pipestone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 172 people
    • Ihlen
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Jasper Sunrise Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jasper
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Airlie
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Airlie is located in Pipestone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airlie
    • Ruthton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Lincoln County
  • Lyon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hatfield, with the one closest to Hatfield listed first.
    • Florence
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Florence is located in Lyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35 people
    • Balaton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Garvin
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Garvin is located in Lyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garvin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
    • Russell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Russell is located in Lyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 343 people
  • Murray County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hatfield, with the one closest to Hatfield listed first.
    • Chandler
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Chandler is located in Murray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chandler
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 246 people
    • Lake Wilson
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Lake Wilson is located in Murray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Wilson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 224 people
    • Hadley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Lowville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Lowville is located in Murray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowville
    • Iona
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Slayton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Avoca
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Avoca is located in Murray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 134 people
    • Currie
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • The Lakes
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • The Lakes is located in Murray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Lakes
    • Fulda
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Nobles County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hatfield, with the one closest to Hatfield listed first.
    • Leota
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Leota is located in Nobles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leota
    • Lismore
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Lismore is located in Nobles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lismore
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 218 people
    • Wilmont
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Adrian
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Reading
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Reading is located in Nobles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reading
    • Rushmore
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Rushmore is located in Nobles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rushmore
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 334 people
  • Rock County
  • Brookings County (SD)
  • Minnehaha County (SD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hatfield, with the one closest to Hatfield listed first.
    • Sherman
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Garretson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Garretson is located in Minnehaha County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garretson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,147 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garretson <1>
    • Dell Rapids
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Valley Springs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Baltic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Baltic is located in Minnehaha County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltic
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,201 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Baltic <1>
  • Moody County (SD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hatfield, with the one closest to Hatfield listed first.
    • Ward
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Ward is located in Moody County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ward
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 51 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ward <1>
    • Flandreau
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Egan
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Egan is located in Moody County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Egan <1>
    • Trent
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Trent is located in Moody County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trent
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 226 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Trent <1>
    • Sioux Falls Junction
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Sioux Falls Junction is located in Moody County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sioux Falls Junction
      • Estimated population in 2014: 119 people
    • Lone Tree
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Lone Tree is located in Moody County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Tree
      • Estimated population in 2014: 14 people
    • Colman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Hatfield ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hatfield.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Hatfield, with the one closest to Hatfield 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, Hatfield had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Hatfield had a population of 52 people.

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

  • Trosky
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Edgerton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Woodstock
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Pipestone
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Ihlen
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Holland
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Holland is located in Pipestone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 172 people
  • Cazenovia
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Cazenovia is located in Pipestone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cazenovia
  • Jasper
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Hardwick
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Chandler
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Chandler is located in Murray County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chandler
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 246 people
  • Lake Wilson
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Lake Wilson is located in Murray County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Wilson
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 224 people
  • Airlie
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Airlie is located in Pipestone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airlie
  • 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 Hatfield. See our List of 1890's Communities around Hatfield.

Newspapers Published in Hatfield ...

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 111 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hatfield.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hatfield, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hatfield.

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 either 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 Hatfield:

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>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 Hatfield, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Hatfield) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.