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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 Lake Benton (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 Lake Benton. 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 Lake Benton ...

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.

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

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

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.

Lake Benton is located in Lincoln 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 Lincoln County: Lyon, Pipestone, Yellow Medicine, Brookings (SD) & Deuel (SD).

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

  • Lincoln County     (The home county of Lake Benton)
  • Lyon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Benton, with the one closest to Lake Benton listed first.
    • Florence
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Florence is located in Lyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35 people
    • Russell
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Russell is located in Lyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 343 people
    • Balaton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Lynd
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Minneota
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Taunton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Garvin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Garvin is located in Lyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garvin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
    • Ghent
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Marshall
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Amiret
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Murray County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Benton, with the one closest to Lake Benton listed first.
    • Lake Wilson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Lake Wilson is located in Murray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Wilson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 224 people
    • Lowville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Lowville is located in Murray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowville
    • Chandler
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Chandler is located in Murray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chandler
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 246 people
    • Hadley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Pipestone County
  • Yellow Medicine County
    • Porter
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Porter is located in Yellow Medicine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 164 people
  • Brookings County (SD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Benton, with the one closest to Lake Benton listed first.
    • Elkton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Bushnell
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Aurora
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Aurora is located in Brookings County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 866 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Aurora <1>
    • White
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • White is located in Brookings County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 487 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for White <1>
    • Brookings
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Medary
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Medary is located in Brookings County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medary
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,442 people
    • Sunnyview
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • North Grove Addition
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • North Grove Addition is located in Brookings County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Grove Addition
      • Estimated population in 2014: 471 people
  • Deuel County (SD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Benton, with the one closest to Lake Benton listed first.
    • Astoria
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Toronto
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Moody County (SD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Benton, with the one closest to Lake Benton listed first.
    • Ward
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • 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
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Egan
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • 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>
    • Sioux Falls Junction
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • 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
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Lone Tree is located in Moody County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Tree
      • Estimated population in 2014: 14 people
    • Trent
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • 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>

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

Cemeteries Near Lake Benton ...

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

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Lake Benton, with the one closest to Lake Benton 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 Lake Benton had a population of 513 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Lake Benton had a population of 625 people.

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

  • Verdi
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Verdi is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verdi
  • Tyler
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Elkton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Ruthton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Ward
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • 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>
  • Florence
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Florence is located in Lyon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 35 people
  • Holland
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Holland is located in Pipestone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 172 people
  • Cazenovia
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Cazenovia is located in Pipestone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cazenovia
  • Burchard
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Burchard is located in Lyon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burchard
  • Wilno
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Wilno is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilno
  • Russell
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Russell is located in Lyon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 343 people
  • Airlie
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Airlie is located in Pipestone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airlie
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Lake Benton ...

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 84 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lake Benton.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Lake Benton. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Lake Benton and those printed in the larger area surrounding Lake Benton.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4> of Lake Benton.

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 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 Lake Benton:

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 Lake Benton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Lake Benton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.