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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 Florence (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 Florence. 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 hospitals 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.

Florence is located in Codington 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 Codington County: Clark, Day, Deuel, Grant & Hamlin.

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

  • Codington County     (The home county of Florence)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
    • Wallace
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wallace have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallace
      • Wallace is located in Codington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wallace <2>
    • Rauville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rauville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rauville
      • Rauville is located in Codington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 292 people
    • Kampeska
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kampeska
      • Kampeska is located in Codington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 331 people
    • Henry
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
      • Henry is located in Codington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 264 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henry <2>
    • Watertown
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Grover
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grover have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grover
      • Grover is located in Codington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 171 people
    • Waverly
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • South Shore
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Appleby
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleby
      • Appleby is located in Codington County
    • Kranzburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kranzburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kranzburg
      • Kranzburg is located in Codington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 176 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kranzburg <2>
  • Clark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
    • Garden City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Bradley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Elrod
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elrod have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elrod
      • Elrod is located in Clark County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 92 people
    • Naples
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naples
      • Naples is located in Clark County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 49 people
    • Crocker
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Clark
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Vienna
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Vienna. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna
      • Vienna is located in Clark County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vienna <2>
  • Day County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
    • Waubay
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Lily
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lily
      • Lily is located in Day County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 4 people
    • Webster
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Butler
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Butler. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler
      • Butler is located in Day County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16 people
    • Holmquist
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmquist
      • Holmquist is located in Day County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 154 people
    • Grenville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grenville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grenville
      • Grenville is located in Day County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 50 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grenville <2>
    • Bristol
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bristol have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol
      • Bristol is located in Day County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bristol <2>
  • Deuel County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
    • Goodwin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Goodwin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodwin
      • Goodwin is located in Deuel County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 150 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Goodwin <2>
    • Bemis
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bemis
      • Bemis is located in Deuel County
  • Grant County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
    • Marvin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Stockholm
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stockholm have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockholm
      • Stockholm is located in Grant County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 106 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stockholm <2>
    • Strandburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Twin Brooks
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Hamlin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
    • Hazel
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hazel have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel
      • Hazel is located in Hamlin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hazel <2>
    • Thomas
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas
      • Thomas is located in Hamlin County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 290 people
    • Kones Corner
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kones Corner
      • Kones Corner is located in Hamlin County
    • Castlewood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Hayti
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hayti have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayti
      • Hayti is located in Hamlin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 381 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hayti <2>
  • Roberts County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
    • Ortley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ortley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ortley
      • Ortley is located in Roberts County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ortley <2>
    • Summit
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summit have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit
      • Summit is located in Roberts County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 288 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Summit <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Florence ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Florence.

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

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

  • New Helgen Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Helgen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Helgen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gautsch Child Grave
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gautsch Child Grave
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gautsch Child Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lake Nicholson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lake Nicholson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lake Nicholson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Esterly Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Esterly Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Esterly Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Maurice Esterly Blessed Sacrament Catholic Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Helgen Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Helgen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Helgen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dexter Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dexter Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dexter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Goodhue Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Goodhue Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Goodhue Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Soren Hjermstad Family Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Soren Hjermstad Family Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Soren Hjermstad Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Berger Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Berger Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Berger Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Phipps Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Phipps Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Phipps Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Egeland Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Egeland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Egeland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (92 more) ...
    • Graceland Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Graceland Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Graceland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Bergen Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bergen Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bergen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Pauli Lutheran Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Pauli Lutheran Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Pauli 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.<4>

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

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

  • Kampeska
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kampeska
    • Kampeska is located in Codington County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 331 people
  • Garden City
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Henry
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
    • Henry is located in Codington County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 264 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henry <2>
  • Watertown
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Bradley
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Elrod
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elrod have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elrod
    • Elrod is located in Clark County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 92 people
  • Grover
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grover have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grover
    • Grover is located in Codington County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 171 people
  • Waverly
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • South Shore
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Waubay
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Lily
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lily
    • Lily is located in Day County
    • Estimated population in 2019: 4 people
  • Hazel
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hazel have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel
    • Hazel is located in Hamlin County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hazel <2>
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Julian ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Julian have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Julian
      • Julian is located in Clark County
    • Naples
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naples
      • Naples is located in Clark County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 49 people
    • Appleby
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleby
      • Appleby is located in Codington County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Florence ...

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 55 newspapers that have been published in the area around Florence.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Florence. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Florence and those printed in the larger area surrounding Florence.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<5> of Florence.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Florence:

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

The official website for Codington County: www.codington.org/

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>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 Florence, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Florence) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Florence. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.0555, Longitude: -97.3262       In this case, the coordinates for Florence have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025