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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 Hermosa (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 Hermosa. 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 and doctors 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.

Hermosa is located in Custer 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 Custer County: Fall River, Oglala Lakota, Pennington, Niobrara (WY) & Weston (WY).

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

  • Custer County     (The home county of Hermosa)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hermosa, with the one closest to Hermosa listed first.
    • Spokane ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spokane have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spokane
      • Spokane is located in Custer County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 3,237 people
    • Fairburn
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairburn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairburn
      • Fairburn is located in Custer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairburn <2>
    • State Game Lodge
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for State Game Lodge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Game Lodge
      • State Game Lodge is located in Custer County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 29 people
    • Custer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Custer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Custer
      • Custer is located in Custer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,926 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Custer <2>
    • Sanator
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sanator have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanator
      • Sanator is located in Custer County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,350 people
    • Buffalo Gap
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Pringle
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pringle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pringle
      • Pringle is located in Custer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pringle <2>
    • Fourmile
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fourmile have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fourmile
      • Fourmile is located in Custer County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 70 people
  • Fall River County
    • Oral
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oral have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oral
      • Oral is located in Fall River County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 206 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oral <2>
  • Lawrence County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hermosa, with the one closest to Hermosa listed first.
    • Merritt
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Merritt have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merritt
      • Merritt is located in Lawrence County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 175 people
    • Nemo
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Tomahawk
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tomahawk have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomahawk
      • Tomahawk is located in Lawrence County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 36 people
  • Meade County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hermosa, with the one closest to Hermosa listed first.
    • Blackhawk
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Summerset
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Piedmont
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Pennington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hermosa, with the one closest to Hermosa listed first.
    • Frenchtown ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frenchtown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchtown
      • Frenchtown is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 276 people
    • Harney
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harney have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harney
      • Harney is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 64 people
    • Rockerville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Keystone
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Stratosphere Bowl
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stratosphere Bowl have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratosphere Bowl
      • Stratosphere Bowl is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 72 people
    • Colonial Pine Hills
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colonial Pine Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Pine Hills
      • Colonial Pine Hills is located in Pennington County
    • Green Valley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
      • Green Valley is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 51 people
    • Murphy
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Murphy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphy
      • Murphy is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 482 people
    • Wildwood Addition
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wildwood Addition have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood Addition
      • Wildwood Addition is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 55 people
    • Rapid Valley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rapid Valley
      • Rapid Valley is located in Pennington County
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 8,260 people
    • Caputa
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Rapid City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Sheridan ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sheridan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan
      • Sheridan is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 447 people

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

Newspapers Published in Hermosa ...

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 59 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hermosa.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hermosa, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hermosa.

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 Hermosa:

Cemeteries Near Hermosa ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hermosa.

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

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

  • Fairburn Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairburn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairburn Cemetery
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mountain View Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the south of Keystone.
    • The Mountain View Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Keystone Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mountain View Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #97167 <4>
  • Rockerville Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Pine Lawn Memorial Park
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Lawn Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Lawn Memorial Park
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Mt. Calvary Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Calvary Cemetery
  • Larsen Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Larsen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Larsen Cemetery
  • Custer Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Custer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Custer Cemetery
  • Blackhawk Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blackhawk Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blackhawk Cemetery
  • Buffalo Gap Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Buffalo Gap Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Buffalo Gap Cemetery
  • Pringle Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pringle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pringle Cemetery
  • Elk Vale Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elk Vale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elk Vale Cemetery
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Hines Cemetery
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hines Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hines Cemetery
    • Piedmont Cemetery
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Viewfield Cemetery
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Viewfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Viewfield Cemetery

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Hermosa had a population of 172 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Hermosa had a population of 409 people.

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

  • Hayward ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hayward have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayward
    • Hayward is located in Pennington County
  • Spokane ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spokane have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spokane
    • Spokane is located in Custer County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 3,237 people
  • Fairburn
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairburn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairburn
    • Fairburn is located in Custer County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairburn <2>
  • Rockerville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Folsom
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Folsom have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Folsom
    • Folsom is located in Custer County
  • Sheridan ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sheridan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan
    • Sheridan is located in Pennington County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 447 people
  • Rapid City
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Farmingdale
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farmingdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmingdale
    • Farmingdale is located in Pennington County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 10 people
  • Hill City
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hill City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill City
    • Hill City is located in Pennington County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,074 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hill City <2>
  • Custer
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Custer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Custer
    • Custer is located in Custer County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,926 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Custer <2>
  • Pactola ‑ Historic
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pactola have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pactola
    • Pactola is located in Pennington County
  • Oreville
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oreville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oreville
    • Oreville is located in Pennington County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Blackhawk
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Berne
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berne have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berne
      • Berne is located in Custer County
    • Buffalo Gap
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)

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

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

The official website for State of South Dakota: 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>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 from Point A (ie- Hermosa) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Hermosa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.8400, Longitude: -103.1921       In this case, the coordinates for Hermosa have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<5>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 Hermosa, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024