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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 Chamberlain (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 Chamberlain. 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 northwest 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 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 west 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.

Chamberlain is located in Brule County and is the County Seat.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Brule County: Aurora, Buffalo, Charles Mix, Gregory, Jerauld & Lyman.

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

  • Brule County     (The home county of Chamberlain)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chamberlain, with the one closest to Chamberlain listed first.
    • Pukwana
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pukwana have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pukwana
      • Pukwana is located in Brule County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pukwana <2>
    • Ola
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ola. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ola
      • Ola is located in Brule County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 108 people
    • Kimball
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Lyonville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyonville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyonville
      • Lyonville is located in Brule County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 49 people
    • Eagle
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle
      • Eagle is located in Brule County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 17 people
    • Bijou Hills
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bijou Hills. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bijou Hills
      • Bijou Hills is located in Brule County
  • Aurora County
    • White Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Lake
      • White Lake is located in Aurora County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 365 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for White Lake <2>
  • Buffalo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chamberlain, with the one closest to Chamberlain listed first.
    • Crow Creek
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Crow Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Creek
      • Crow Creek is located in Buffalo County
    • Shelby
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shelby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelby
      • Shelby is located in Buffalo County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 96 people
    • Fort Thompson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Thompson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Thompson
      • Fort Thompson is located in Buffalo County
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 1,282 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fort Thompson <2>
    • Gann Valley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Charles Mix County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chamberlain, with the one closest to Chamberlain listed first.
    • Platte Colony
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Platte Colony have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platte Colony
      • Platte Colony is located in Charles Mix County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 51 people
    • Academy
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Academy
      • Academy is located in Charles Mix County
  • Gregory County
    • Dixon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dixon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon
      • Dixon is located in Gregory County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 118 people
  • Jerauld County
    • Crow Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Crow Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Lake
      • Crow Lake is located in Jerauld County
  • Lyman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chamberlain, with the one closest to Chamberlain listed first.
    • Oacoma
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oacoma have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oacoma
      • Oacoma is located in Lyman County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 478 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oacoma <2>
    • East Lyman
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Lyman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lyman
      • East Lyman is located in Lyman County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 145 people
    • Reliance
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reliance have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reliance
      • Reliance is located in Lyman County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 210 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Reliance <2>
    • Iona
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Lyman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyman
      • Lyman is located in Lyman County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 43 people
    • Lower Brule
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lower Brule have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Brule
      • Lower Brule is located in Lyman County
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 24 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lower Brule <2>
    • Kennebec
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Tripp County
    • Hamill
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hamill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamill
      • Hamill is located in Tripp County
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 11 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hamill <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Chamberlain ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Chamberlain.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Riverview Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oacoma Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oacoma Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oacoma Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Community Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Community Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Community Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Pukwana.
    • The Community Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Pukwana City Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #96887 <4>
  • St. Anthony Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Norwegian Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Norwegian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Norwegian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Norwegian Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Norwegian Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Norwegian Cemetery is located 6 miles [9.7 km]<5> to the west of Chamberlain.
    • The Norwegian Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Norwegian Free Lutheran Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #97317 <4>
  • Lutheran Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Grandview Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grandview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grandview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Crow Creek Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Saint John the Baptist Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Saint John the Baptist Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Saint John the Baptist Cemetery came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<6>
    • The Saint John the Baptist Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Saint John the Baptist Episcopal Cemetery
    • Saint John's Cemetery
    • Saint John's Episcopal Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2168051 <4>
  • German Lutheran Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the German Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the German Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Vega Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Vega Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Vega Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (32 more) ...
    • Reliance Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Reliance Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Reliance Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Marys Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Swedish Lutheran Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Swedish Lutheran Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Swedish Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<7>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Chamberlain had a population of 939 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Chamberlain had a population of 2,348 people.

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

  • Oacoma
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oacoma have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oacoma
    • Oacoma is located in Lyman County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 478 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oacoma <2>
  • Pukwana
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pukwana have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pukwana
    • Pukwana is located in Brule County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pukwana <2>
  • Crow Creek
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Crow Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Creek
    • Crow Creek is located in Buffalo County
  • Ola
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ola. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ola
    • Ola is located in Brule County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 108 people
  • Kimball
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Lyonville
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyonville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyonville
    • Lyonville is located in Brule County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 49 people
  • Eagle
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle
    • Eagle is located in Brule County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 17 people
  • Bijou Hills
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bijou Hills. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bijou Hills
    • Bijou Hills is located in Brule County
  • Lyman
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyman
    • Lyman is located in Lyman County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 43 people
  • Gann Valley
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Lower Brule
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lower Brule have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Brule
    • Lower Brule is located in Lyman County
    • Population from the 2010 Census: 24 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lower Brule <2>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Chamberlain ...

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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Chamberlain.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Chamberlain. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Chamberlain and those printed in the larger area surrounding Chamberlain.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5> of Chamberlain.

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 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 Chamberlain:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Chamberlain. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of South Dakota: https://www.sd.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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.
<5>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- Chamberlain) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Chamberlain. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.8075, Longitude: -99.3207       In this case, the coordinates for Chamberlain have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<7>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 Chamberlain, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025