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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 Alcester (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 Alcester. 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 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.

Alcester is located in Union 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 Union County: Plymouth (IA), Sioux (IA), Woodbury (IA), Dakota (NE), Dixon (NE), Clay & Lincoln.

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

  • Union County     (The home county of Alcester)
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alcester, with the one closest to Alcester listed first.
    • Alsen
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Glenwood ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Glenwood is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
      • Estimated population in 2014: 103 people
    • Komstad ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Greenfield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Hub City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Hub City is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hub City
    • Riverside ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Bloomingdale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Lodi
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Lodi is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodi
      • Estimated population in 2014: 82 people
    • Burbank
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Westreville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Westreville is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westreville
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 208 people
    • Vermillion
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Wakonda
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Lincoln County
  • Turner County
  • Yankton County
  • Lyon County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alcester, with the one closest to Alcester listed first.
    • Beloit
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Inwood
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Klondike
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Doon
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • 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>
    • Alvord
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Plymouth County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alcester, with the one closest to Alcester listed first.
    • Akron
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Westfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Craig
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Craig is located in Plymouth County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craig
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 91 people
    • Adaville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Struble
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Struble is located in Plymouth County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Struble
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 77 people
    • Millnerville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Brunsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Brunsville is located in Plymouth County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brunsville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 152 people
    • Le Mars
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Merrill
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Merrill is located in Plymouth County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrill
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 723 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Merrill <1>
  • Sioux County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alcester, with the one closest to Alcester listed first.
    • Hawarden
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Chatsworth
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • McNally
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Lebanon
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Ireton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Ireton is located in Sioux County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ireton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 595 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ireton <1>
    • Rock Valley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Maurice
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Maurice is located in Sioux County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maurice
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
    • Westbrook Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Westbrook Village is located in Sioux County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westbrook Village
    • Sioux Center
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Perkins
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Hull
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Hull is located in Sioux County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hull
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,296 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hull <1>
    • Middleburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Cedar County (NE)
    • Obert
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Dixon County (NE)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alcester, with the one closest to Alcester listed first.
    • Newcastle
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Maskell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Maskell is located in Dixon County (NE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maskell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 68 people

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

Cemeteries Near Alcester ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alcester.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Alcester, with the one closest to Alcester 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Alcester had a population of 100 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Alcester had a population of 756 people.

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

  • Emmet
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Emmet is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmet
    • Estimated population in 2014: 231 people
  • Big Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Nora
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Nora is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nora
    • Estimated population in 2014: 240 people
  • Hawarden
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Beresford
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Alsen
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Chatsworth
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Moe
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Spink
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Komstad ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Dalesburg
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Dalesburg is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalesburg
  • Greenfield
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Akron
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Marshalltown ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Marshalltown is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshalltown
    • Ireton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Ireton is located in Sioux County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ireton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 595 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ireton <1>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Alcester ...

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 123 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alcester.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Alcester. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Alcester and those printed in the larger area surrounding Alcester.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2> of Alcester.

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 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 Alcester:

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>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- Alcester) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Alcester, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.