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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 northwest 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 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.

Florence is located in Codington 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 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)
    • Rauville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Rauville is located in Codington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rauville
      • Estimated population in 2014: 292 people
    • Kampeska
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Kampeska is located in Codington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kampeska
      • Estimated population in 2014: 331 people
    • Henry
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Henry is located in Codington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 264 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henry <1>
    • Watertown
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Grover
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Grover is located in Codington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grover
      • 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)
      • Appleby is located in Codington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleby
    • Kranzburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
  • 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)
      • Elrod is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elrod
      • Estimated population in 2014: 92 people
    • Naples
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Naples is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naples
      • 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)
  • 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)
      • Lily is located in Day County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lily
      • Estimated population in 2019: 4 people
    • Webster
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Butler
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Butler is located in Day County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16 people
    • Holmquist
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Holmquist is located in Day County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmquist
      • Estimated population in 2014: 154 people
    • Grenville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Bristol
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • 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)
    • Bemis
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Bemis is located in Deuel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bemis
  • 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)
    • 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)
    • Thomas
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Thomas is located in Hamlin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas
      • Estimated population in 2014: 290 people
    • Kones Corner
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Kones Corner is located in Hamlin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kones Corner
    • Castlewood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Hayti
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • 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)
    • Summit
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)

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.

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

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)
  • Gautsch Child Grave
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Lake Nicholson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Esterly Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • 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)
  • Dexter Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Goodhue Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Soren Hjermstad Family Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Berger Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Phipps Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Egeland Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (92 more) ...
    • Graceland Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Bergen Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • St. Pauli Lutheran Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)

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.<2>

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)
    • Kampeska is located in Codington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kampeska
    • 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)
    • Henry is located in Codington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 264 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henry <1>
  • 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)
    • Elrod is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elrod
    • Estimated population in 2014: 92 people
  • Grover
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Grover is located in Codington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grover
    • 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)
    • Lily is located in Day County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lily
    • Estimated population in 2019: 4 people
  • Hazel
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Julian ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Julian is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Julian
    • Naples
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Naples is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naples
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 49 people
    • Appleby
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Appleby is located in Codington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleby

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]<3> 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 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:

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>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.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Florence) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.