RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of South Dakota >> Pennington County >> Creston >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
South Dakota

The Commemorative Quarter for South Dakota





Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Creston. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Creston to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Creston, please Contact Us.

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 Creston (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 Creston. 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Creston is historic, it would have been located within present day Pennington County.

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 Pennington County: Custer, Haakon, Jackson, Lawrence, Meade, Oglala Lakota & Weston (WY).

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

  • Pennington County     (The home county of Creston)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Creston, with the one closest to Creston listed first.
    • Owanka
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Farmingdale
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farmingdale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmingdale
      • Farmingdale is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 10 people
    • Scenic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Wicksville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wicksville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wicksville
      • Wicksville is located in Pennington County
    • New Underwood
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Underwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Underwood
      • New Underwood is located in Pennington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 679 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Underwood <2>
    • Caputa
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Wasta
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wasta have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wasta
      • Wasta is located in Pennington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wasta <2>
    • Imlay
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Imlay have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Imlay
      • Imlay is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 7 people
    • Green Valley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
      • Green Valley is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 51 people
    • Wall
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wall have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wall
      • Wall is located in Pennington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 885 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wall <2>
    • Box Elder
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Box Elder have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Box Elder
      • Box Elder is located in Pennington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,564 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Box Elder <2>
    • Murphy
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Murphy have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphy
      • Murphy is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 482 people
    • Rapid Valley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Custer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Creston, with the one closest to Creston listed first.
    • Hermosa
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Fairburn
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairburn have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairburn
      • Fairburn is located in Custer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairburn <2>
  • Meade County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Creston, with the one closest to Creston listed first.
    • Viewfield
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Viewfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viewfield
      • Viewfield is located in Meade County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 44 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Viewfield
      • From Creston to Viewfield
    • Elm Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near Creston ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Creston.

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 Creston covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Owanka Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Owanka Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Owanka Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Scenic Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Scenic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Scenic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Larsen Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Larsen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Larsen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Viewfield Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Viewfield Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Viewfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pine Lawn Memorial Park
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Lawn Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Lawn Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fairburn Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairburn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairburn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Mary Magdalene Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Mary Magdalene Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Mary Magdalene Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Hope Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Hope Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Mt. Calvary Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Calvary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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.

Creston itself is historic and was described in the Rand McNally Atlas as having a population of 25 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Farmingdale
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farmingdale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmingdale
    • Farmingdale is located in Pennington County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 10 people
  • Folsom
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Folsom have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Folsom
    • Folsom is located in Custer County
  • Viewfield
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Viewfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viewfield
    • Viewfield is located in Meade County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 44 people
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Viewfield
    • From Creston to Viewfield
  • Hermosa
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Bend
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bend
    • Bend is located in Meade County
  • Rapid City
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Fairburn
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairburn have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairburn
    • Fairburn is located in Custer County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairburn <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Creston ...

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 37 newspapers that have been published in the area around Creston.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Creston, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Creston.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Creston:

The official website for Pennington County: www.co.pennington.sd.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Creston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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.
<5>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.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Creston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Creston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.9119, Longitude: -102.6959    









 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025