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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 Fort Thompson (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 Fort Thompson. 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.

Name Variations for Fort Thompson ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Fort Thompson: Ft. Thompson

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 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.

Fort Thompson is located in Buffalo 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 Buffalo County: Brule, Hand, Hyde, Jerauld & Lyman.

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

  • Buffalo County     (The home county of Fort Thompson)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Thompson, with the one closest to Fort Thompson listed first.
    • Crow Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • 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.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Creek
      • Crow Creek is located in Buffalo County
    • Shelby
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shelby have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
    • Gann Valley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
  • Brule County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Thompson, with the one closest to Fort Thompson listed first.
    • Chamberlain
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chamberlain have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamberlain
      • Chamberlain is located in Brule County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,348 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chamberlain <3>
    • Pukwana
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pukwana have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
    • Lyonville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyonville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
  • Hand County
    • Ames
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ames
      • Ames is located in Hand County
  • Hyde County
    • Stephan
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Lyman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Thompson, with the one closest to Fort Thompson listed first.
    • Lower Brule
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lower Brule have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
    • East Lyman
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Lyman have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reliance have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
    • Oacoma
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oacoma have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
    • Lyman
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyman have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
    • Kennebec
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Fort Thompson ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fort Thompson.

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

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

  • Catholic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Catholic Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Catholic Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<4> to the east of Fort Thompson.
    • The Catholic Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Lake View Cemetery
    • Saint Joseph's Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #97570 <5>
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Holy Comforter Episcopal Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Saint John the Baptist Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • 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 <5>
  • Immaculate Conception Mission Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Immaculate Conception Mission Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Immaculate Conception Mission Cemetery is located 18 miles [29 km]<4> to the north of Highmore.
    • The Immaculate Conception Mission Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Immaculate Conception Cemetery
    • Stephen Mission Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #97149 <5>
  • Crow Creek Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Reliance Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cedar Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cedar Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cedar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oacoma Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trinity Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trinity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Riverview Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (21 more) ...
    • Vega Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Saint Placidus Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Saint Placidus Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Saint Placidus Cemetery is located 20 miles [32.2 km]<4> to the southwest of Fort Thompson.
      • The Saint Placidus Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Saint Placidus Catholic Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2168066 <5>
    • Norwegian Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • 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]<4> 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 <5>

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>

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

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

  • Lower Brule
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lower Brule have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
  • Stephan
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Crow Creek
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • 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.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Creek
    • Crow Creek is located in Buffalo County
  • Oacoma
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oacoma have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
  • Chamberlain
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chamberlain have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamberlain
    • Chamberlain is located in Brule County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,348 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chamberlain <3>
  • Lyman
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyman have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 east)
  • Ames
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ames
    • Ames is located in Hand County
  • Pukwana
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pukwana have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
  • Lyonville
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyonville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
  • De Grey
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • 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
  • Sweetland ‑ Historic
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sweetland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetland
    • Sweetland is located in Hand County

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

Newspapers Published in Fort Thompson ...

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 21 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fort Thompson.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fort Thompson, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fort Thompson.

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 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 Fort Thompson:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Fort Thompson. 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>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.
<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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Fort Thompson) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fort Thompson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.0686, Longitude: -99.4379       In this case, the coordinates for Fort Thompson 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>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 Fort Thompson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025