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 Hammer (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 Hammer. 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.
Hammer is located in Roberts 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 Roberts County: Big Stone (MN), Traverse (MN), Richland (ND), Day, Grant & Marshall.
Below are the counties that are near Hammer. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Hammer:
- Roberts County (The home county of Hammer)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hammer, with the one closest to Hammer listed first.
- Claire City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- New Effington
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Rosholt
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Sisseton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Long Hollow Housing
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Long Hollow Housing is located in Roberts County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Hollow Housing
- Population from the 2010 Census: 192 people
- Goodwill
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Goodwill is located in Roberts County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodwill
- Estimated population in 2014: 876 people
- Peever
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- White Rock
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- White Rock is located in Roberts County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3 people
- Peever Flats
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Peever Flats is located in Roberts County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peever Flats
- Spring Grove
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Spring Grove is located in Roberts County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Grove
- Estimated population in 2014: 125 people
- Marshall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hammer, with the one closest to Hammer listed first.
- Veblen
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Hillhead
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Hillhead is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillhead
- Estimated population in 2014: 990 people
- Marlow
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Marlow is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlow
- Estimated population in 2014: 14 people
- Lake City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Eden
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Big Stone County (MN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hammer, with the one closest to Hammer listed first.
- Beardsley
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Barry
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Barry is located in Big Stone County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barry
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15 people
- Traverse County (MN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hammer, with the one closest to Hammer listed first.
- Browns Valley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Browns Valley is located in Traverse County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 522 people
- Wheaton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Dumont
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Dumont is located in Traverse County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumont
- Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
- Wilkin County (MN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hammer, with the one closest to Hammer listed first.
- Childs
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Childs is located in Wilkin County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Childs
- Tenney
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Tenney is located in Wilkin County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenney
- Estimated population in 2011: 5 people
- Richland County (ND)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hammer, with the one closest to Hammer listed first.
- Hankinson
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Lidgerwood
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Oswald
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Oswald is located in Richland County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oswald
- Mantador
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Great Bend
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Fairmount
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Barney
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Wyndmere
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Mooreton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Fairview Junction
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Fairview Junction is located in Richland County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview Junction
- Sargent County (ND)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hammer, with the one closest to Hammer listed first.
- Cayuga
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Ransom City ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Ransom City is located in Sargent County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ransom City
- Rutland
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Havana
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Hammer, see our County-by-County Page for Hammer.
Cemeteries Near Hammer ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hammer.
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 Hammer - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Hammer covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Hammer, with the one closest to Hammer listed first.
- Nidaros Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Ferkingstad Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Norway Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Old Effington Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- St. Boniface Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Zions Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- New Effington Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Thompson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- St. Pauls Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Stavanger Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Faith Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Bohemian Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (91 more) ...
- Scandia Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bethania Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Old Brandvold Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
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 Hammer in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Hammer.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Hammer, with the one closest to Hammer listed first.
- Hankinson
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Stiles
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Stiles is located in Richland County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stiles
- Lidgerwood
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Oswald
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Oswald is located in Richland County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oswald
- Sonora
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Sonora is located in Richland County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonora
- Geneseo
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Geneseo is located in Sargent County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneseo
- Goodwill
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Goodwill is located in Roberts County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodwill
- Estimated population in 2014: 876 people
- Browns Valley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Browns Valley is located in Traverse County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 522 people
- White Rock
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- White Rock is located in Roberts County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3 people
- Great Bend
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Cayuga
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Fairmount
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (12 more) ...
- Hamlin
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Hamlin is located in Sargent County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlin
- Ransom City ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Ransom City is located in Sargent County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ransom City
- Beardsley
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Hammer. See our List of 1890's Communities around Hammer.
Newspapers Published in Hammer ...
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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hammer.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hammer, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hammer.
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 Hammer:
- Websites specific to South Dakota
- Pages specific to Roberts County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Marshall County
- Big Stone County
- Traverse County
- Wilkin County
- Richland County
- Sargent County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for South Dakota
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 Hammer, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Hammer) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |