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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 Eakin (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 Eakin. 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 hospitals and 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.

Eakin is located in Sully 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 Sully County: Dewey, Hughes, Hyde, Potter & Stanley.

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

  • Sully County     (The home county of Eakin)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Eakin, with the one closest to Eakin listed first.
    • Onida
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Agar
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Agar have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agar
      • Agar is located in Sully County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Agar <1>
    • Okobojo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Okobojo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Okobojo
      • Okobojo is located in Sully County
  • Hughes County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Eakin, with the one closest to Eakin listed first.
    • Blunt
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Canning
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Canning have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canning
      • Canning is located in Hughes County
    • Harrold
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harrold have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrold
      • Harrold is located in Hughes County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harrold <1>
    • Alto
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alto
      • Alto is located in Hughes County
    • Rousseau
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rousseau have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rousseau
      • Rousseau is located in Hughes County
    • Pierre
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pierre have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierre
      • Pierre is located in Hughes County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,708 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pierre <1>
    • Oahe
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oahe have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oahe
      • Oahe is located in Hughes County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 474 people
  • Hyde County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Eakin, with the one closest to Eakin listed first.
    • Holabird
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Holabird. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holabird
      • Holabird is located in Hyde County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holabird <1>
    • Highmore
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Potter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Eakin, with the one closest to Eakin listed first.
    • Gettysburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Forest City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
      • Forest City is located in Potter County
  • Stanley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Eakin, with the one closest to Eakin listed first.
    • Fort Pierre
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Verendrye Hill
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verendrye Hill
      • Verendrye Hill is located in Stanley County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 5 people

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

Cemeteries Near Eakin ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Eakin.

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

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

  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Pleasant Hill Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<4> to the east of Blunt.
    • The Pleasant Hill Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Blunt Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #96825 <5>
  • Canning Prairie Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Canning Prairie Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Canning Prairie Cemetery is located 8 miles [12.9 km]<4> to the north of Blunt.
    • The Canning Prairie Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Canning Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2383075 <5>
  • Pleasant Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Medicine Hill Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Medicine Hill Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Medicine Hill Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Harrold.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #97239 <5>
  • Agar Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • St. John Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. John Cemetery is located outside and to the south of Harrold.
    • The St. John Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Saint John Catholic Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #97543 <5>
  • Okobojo Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Okobojo Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Okobojo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Schreiber Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Schreiber Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Schreiber Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mount Calvary Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverside Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Riverside Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Pierre.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #97458 <5>
  • Blair Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blair Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blair Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Scotty Philip Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Chapelle Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Copp Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Copp Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Copp Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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.<6>

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

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

  • Onida
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Blunt
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Canning
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Canning have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canning
    • Canning is located in Hughes County
  • Okobojo
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Okobojo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Okobojo
    • Okobojo is located in Sully County
  • Rousseau
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rousseau have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rousseau
    • Rousseau is located in Hughes County
  • Holabird
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Holabird. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holabird
    • Holabird is located in Hyde County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holabird <1>
  • De Grey
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for De Grey have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Grey
    • De Grey is located in Hughes County
  • Fort Pierre
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Oahe
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oahe have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oahe
    • Oahe is located in Hughes County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 474 people
  • Gettysburg
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Highmore
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Forest City
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
    • Forest City is located in Potter County

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

Newspapers Published in Eakin ...

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 70 newspapers that have been published in the area around Eakin.

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

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 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 Eakin:

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

The official website for Sully County: www.sullycounty.net/

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

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 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.
<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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Eakin) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Eakin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.6155, Longitude: -100.0332       In this case, the coordinates for Eakin have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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>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 Eakin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025