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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 Ajax (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 Ajax. 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 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.

Ajax is located in Pennington County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Pennington County: Custer, Haakon, Jackson, Lawrence, Meade, Oglala Lakota & Weston (WY).

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

  • Pennington County     (The home county of Ajax)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ajax, with the one closest to Ajax listed first.
    • Hayward ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Hayward is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayward
    • Rockerville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Stratosphere Bowl
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Stratosphere Bowl is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratosphere Bowl
      • Estimated population in 2014: 72 people
    • Green Valley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Green Valley is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
      • Estimated population in 2014: 51 people
    • Murphy
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Murphy is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphy
      • Estimated population in 2014: 482 people
    • Colonial Pine Hills
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Colonial Pine Hills is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Pine Hills
    • Wildwood Addition
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Wildwood Addition is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood Addition
      • Estimated population in 2014: 55 people
    • Frenchtown ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Frenchtown is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchtown
      • Estimated population in 2014: 276 people
    • Harney
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Harney is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harney
      • Estimated population in 2014: 64 people
    • Rapid Valley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Rapid Valley is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rapid Valley
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 8,260 people
    • Keystone
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Rapid City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Caputa
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Custer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ajax, with the one closest to Ajax listed first.
    • Hermosa
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Spokane ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Spokane is located in Custer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spokane
      • Estimated population in 2014: 3,237 people
    • State Game Lodge
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • State Game Lodge is located in Custer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Game Lodge
      • Estimated population in 2014: 29 people
    • Fairburn
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Custer
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Berne
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Berne is located in Custer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berne
    • Sanator
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Sanator is located in Custer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanator
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,350 people
    • Fourmile
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Fourmile is located in Custer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fourmile
      • Estimated population in 2014: 70 people
    • Buffalo Gap
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Pringle
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Lawrence County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ajax, with the one closest to Ajax listed first.
    • Merritt
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Merritt is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merritt
      • Estimated population in 2014: 175 people
    • Nemo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Tomahawk
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Tomahawk is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomahawk
      • Estimated population in 2014: 36 people
    • Greenwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Greenwood is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
      • Greenwood has also been known as:
      • Laflin
  • Meade County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ajax, with the one closest to Ajax listed first.
    • Blackhawk
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Summerset
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Bend
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Bend is located in Meade County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bend
    • Piedmont
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Viewfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Viewfield is located in Meade County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viewfield
      • Estimated population in 2014: 44 people
    • Tilford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Tilford is located in Meade County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilford

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

Cemeteries Near Ajax ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ajax.

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

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

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

  • Pine Lawn Memorial Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Rockerville Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mountain View Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the south of Keystone.
    • The Mountain View Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Keystone Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #97167 <2>
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Mt. Calvary Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Fairburn Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Larsen Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Blackhawk Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Elk Vale Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Custer Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Piedmont Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Viewfield Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Pringle Cemetery
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Buffalo Gap Cemetery
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Owanka Cemetery
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)

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>

While we didn't find Ajax in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Ajax.

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

  • Hermosa
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Hayward ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Hayward is located in Pennington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayward
  • Rockerville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Spokane ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Spokane is located in Custer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spokane
    • Estimated population in 2014: 3,237 people
  • Rapid City
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Fairburn
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Farmingdale
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Farmingdale is located in Pennington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmingdale
    • Estimated population in 2014: 10 people
  • Sheridan ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Sheridan is located in Pennington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan
    • Estimated population in 2014: 447 people
  • Folsom
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Folsom is located in Custer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Folsom
  • Blackhawk
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Pactola ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Pactola is located in Pennington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pactola
  • Hill City
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Custer
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Silver City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Silver City is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
      • Estimated population in 2014: 60 people
    • Oreville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Oreville is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oreville

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

Newspapers Published in Ajax ...

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 62 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ajax.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ajax, 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 Ajax.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Ajax:

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 Ajax, 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- Ajax) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.