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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 Manley (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 Manley. 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 southwest 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 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 west 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.

Manley is located in Rock 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 Rock County: Lyon (IA), Murray, Nobles, Pipestone, Minnehaha (SD) & Moody (SD).

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

  • Rock County     (The home county of Manley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Manley, with the one closest to Manley listed first.
    • Beaver Creek
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Bruce
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Bruce is located in Rock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruce
    • Hills
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Steen
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Luverne
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Ash Creek
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Kanaranzi
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Hardwick
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Magnolia
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Kenneth
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Nobles County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Manley, with the one closest to Manley listed first.
    • Ellsworth
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Adrian
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Leota
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Leota is located in Nobles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leota
    • Lismore
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Lismore is located in Nobles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lismore
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 218 people
  • Pipestone County
  • Lyon County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Manley, with the one closest to Manley listed first.
    • Larchwood
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Lester
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Lester is located in Lyon County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lester
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
    • Klondike
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Rock Rapids
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Alvord
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Inwood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Beloit
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Edna
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Doon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Doon is located in Lyon County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 599 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Doon <1>
    • George
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • George is located in Lyon County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for George
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,029 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for George <1>
    • Little Rock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Sioux County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Manley, with the one closest to Manley listed first.
    • Rock Valley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Perkins
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Lincoln County (SD)
  • Minnehaha County (SD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Manley, with the one closest to Manley listed first.
    • Valley Springs
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Rowena
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Brandon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Brandon is located in Minnehaha County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,168 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brandon <1>
    • Garretson
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • 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>
    • Pine Lakes Addition
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Pine Lakes Addition is located in Minnehaha County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Lakes Addition
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 314 people
    • Sherman
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Split Rock Heights
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Split Rock Heights is located in Minnehaha County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Split Rock Heights
      • Estimated population in 2014: 216 people
    • Norton Acres
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Norton Acres is located in Minnehaha County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norton Acres
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 342 people
    • Meadow View Addition
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Meadow View Addition is located in Minnehaha County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow View Addition
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 538 people
    • Renner Corner
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Renner Corner is located in Minnehaha County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Renner Corner
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 305 people
    • Renner
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Midway
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Moody County (SD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Manley, with the one closest to Manley listed first.
    • Trent
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • 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
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Sioux Falls Junction is located in Moody County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sioux Falls Junction
      • Estimated population in 2014: 119 people
    • Egan
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • 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>
    • Lone Tree
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Lone Tree is located in Moody County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Tree
      • Estimated population in 2014: 14 people

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

Cemeteries Near Manley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Manley.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Manley, with the one closest to Manley 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, Manley had a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Valley Springs
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Beaver Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Bruce
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Bruce is located in Rock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruce
  • Booge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Booge is located in Minnehaha County (SD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Booge
  • Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Benclare
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Benclare is located in Minnehaha County (SD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benclare
  • Rowena
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Corson
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Corson is located in Minnehaha County (SD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corson
  • Brandon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Brandon is located in Minnehaha County (SD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandon
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,168 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brandon <1>
  • East Sioux Falls
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • East Sioux Falls is located in Minnehaha County (SD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Sioux Falls
  • Larchwood
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Garretson
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • 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>
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Steen
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Granite
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Granite is located in Lyon County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite
    • Sherman
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Manley ...

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 151 newspapers that have been published in the area around Manley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Manley, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Manley.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Manley:

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 Manley, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Manley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.