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 Hiawatha Beach (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 Hiawatha Beach. 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 Hiawatha Beach ...
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 occur.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Hiawatha Beach: Hiawatha Bch.
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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and 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.
Hiawatha Beach 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 Hiawatha Beach. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Hiawatha Beach:
- Roberts County (The home county of Hiawatha Beach)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hiawatha Beach, with the one closest to Hiawatha Beach listed first.
- South Dakota Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- South Dakota Park is located in Roberts County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Dakota Park
- Estimated population in 2014: 15 people
- Hartford Beach
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Hartford Beach is located in Roberts County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartford Beach
- Estimated population in 2014: 126 people
- Shady Beach
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Shady Beach is located in Roberts County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Beach
- Wilmot
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Corona
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Peever Flats
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Peever Flats is located in Roberts County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peever Flats
- Peever
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Spring Grove
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Spring Grove is located in Roberts County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Grove
- Estimated population in 2014: 125 people
- Goodwill
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Goodwill is located in Roberts County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodwill
- Estimated population in 2014: 876 people
- Summit
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Sisseton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Long Hollow Housing
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Long Hollow Housing is located in Roberts County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Hollow Housing
- Population from the 2010 Census: 192 people
- Codington County
- South Shore
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Day County
- Waubay
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Grant County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hiawatha Beach, with the one closest to Hiawatha Beach listed first.
- Marvin
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Milbank
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Twin Brooks
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Big Stone City
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Stockholm
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- LaBolt
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Strandburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Albee
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Albee is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albee
- Population from the 2020 Census: 17 people
- Big Stone County (MN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hiawatha Beach, with the one closest to Hiawatha Beach listed first.
- Beardsley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Barry
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Barry is located in Big Stone County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barry
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15 people
- Clinton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Graceville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Ortonville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Johnson
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Johnson is located in Big Stone County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 27 people
- Odessa
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Stevens County (MN)
- Chokio
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Traverse County (MN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hiawatha Beach, with the one closest to Hiawatha Beach listed first.
- Browns Valley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Browns Valley is located in Traverse County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 522 people
- Collis
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Collis is located in Traverse County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collis
- Dumont
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Dumont is located in Traverse County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumont
- Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
- Wheaton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Hiawatha Beach, see our County-by-County Page for Hiawatha Beach.
Cemeteries Near Hiawatha Beach ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hiawatha Beach.
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 Hiawatha Beach - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Hiawatha Beach covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Hiawatha Beach, with the one closest to Hiawatha Beach listed first.
- Holden Lutheran Church Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Holden Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lakeside Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- St. Mary Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Beardsley Community Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Midway Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Wilmot Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Catholic Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Corona Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Valley View Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Wilmot Lutheran Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Plateau Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (100 more) ...
- Lakeside Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- West St. Paul Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Bailey Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 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.<3>
While we didn't find Hiawatha Beach in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Hiawatha Beach.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Hiawatha Beach, with the one closest to Hiawatha Beach listed first.
- Wilmot
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Beardsley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Corona
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Browns Valley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Browns Valley is located in Traverse County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 522 people
- Barry
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Barry is located in Big Stone County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barry
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15 people
- Clinton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Marvin
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Graceville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Goodwill
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Goodwill is located in Roberts County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodwill
- Estimated population in 2014: 876 people
- Summit
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Twin Brooks
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Big Stone City
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (11 more) ...
- Ortonville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Collis
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Collis is located in Traverse County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collis
- Johnson
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Johnson is located in Big Stone County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 27 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Hiawatha Beach. See our List of 1890's Communities around Hiawatha Beach.
Newspapers Published in Hiawatha Beach ...
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 73 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hiawatha Beach.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hiawatha Beach, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hiawatha Beach.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Hiawatha Beach:
- Websites specific to South Dakota
- Pages specific to Roberts County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Codington County
- Day County
- Grant County
- Big Stone County
- Stevens County
- Traverse 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> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Hiawatha Beach, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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 from Point A (ie- Hiawatha Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |