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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 James Valley Junction (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 James Valley Junction. 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 James Valley Junction ...

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.

  • A typical abbreviation for James Valley Junction: James Vly. Jct. (or less commonly used: James Vly. Jctn.)
  • While the name of this community is James Valley Junction, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So James Valley Junction may originally have been Jame's Valley Junction.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case James Valley Junction might be written as Jame Valley Junction.

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals 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.

James Valley Junction is located in Beadle 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 Beadle County: Clark, Hand, Jerauld, Kingsbury, Miner, Sanborn & Spink.

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

  • Beadle County     (The home county of James Valley Junction)
    • The following are listed by their distance from James Valley Junction, with the one closest to James Valley Junction listed first.
    • Huron
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron
      • Huron is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,420 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Huron <2>
    • Morningside
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morningside
      • Morningside is located in Beadle County
    • Broadland
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadland
      • Broadland is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 32 people
    • Virgil
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virgil have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgil
      • Virgil is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Virgil <2>
    • Wolsey
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolsey have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolsey
      • Wolsey is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 400 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wolsey <2>
    • Cavour
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cavour have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cavour
      • Cavour is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cavour <2>
    • Huron Colony
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huron Colony have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron Colony
      • Huron Colony is located in Beadle County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 403 people
    • Yale
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Bonilla
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonilla
      • Bonilla is located in Beadle County
    • Hitchcock
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hitchcock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hitchcock
      • Hitchcock is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hitchcock <2>
    • Wessington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wessington have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wessington
      • Wessington is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wessington <2>
  • Clark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from James Valley Junction, with the one closest to James Valley Junction listed first.
    • Carpenter
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Pitrodie ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pitrodie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pitrodie
      • Pitrodie is located in Clark County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 25 people
  • Jerauld County
    • The following are listed by their distance from James Valley Junction, with the one closest to James Valley Junction listed first.
    • Alpena
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpena have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpena
      • Alpena is located in Jerauld County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alpena <2>
    • Lane
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lane have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane
      • Lane is located in Jerauld County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lane <2>
    • Wessington Springs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Kingsbury County
    • The following are listed by their distance from James Valley Junction, with the one closest to James Valley Junction listed first.
    • Iroquois
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iroquois have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iroquois
      • Iroquois is located in Kingsbury County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iroquois <2>
    • Osceola
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Osceola have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola
      • Osceola is located in Kingsbury County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 90 people
    • Bancroft
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bancroft have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bancroft
      • Bancroft is located in Kingsbury County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19 people
    • Esmond
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Esmond have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esmond
      • Esmond is located in Kingsbury County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 60 people
    • Manchester
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manchester have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manchester
      • Manchester is located in Kingsbury County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 65 people
  • Sanborn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from James Valley Junction, with the one closest to James Valley Junction listed first.
    • Woonsocket
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Forestburg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestburg
      • Forestburg is located in Sanborn County
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 73 people
    • Cuthbert
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuthbert
      • Cuthbert is located in Sanborn County
  • Spink County
    • The following are listed by their distance from James Valley Junction, with the one closest to James Valley Junction listed first.
    • Spottswood
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spottswood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spottswood
      • Spottswood is located in Spink County
    • Spink Colony
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spink Colony have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spink Colony
      • Spink Colony is located in Spink County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 155 people
    • Tulare
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tulare have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulare
      • Tulare is located in Spink County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 209 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tulare <2>

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

Newspapers Published in James Valley Junction ...

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 48 newspapers that have been published in the area around James Valley Junction.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of James Valley Junction, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for James Valley Junction.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 James Valley Junction:

Cemeteries Near James Valley Junction ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of James Valley Junction.

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 James Valley Junction covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Restlawn Memory Garden
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Restlawn Memory Garden have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Restlawn Memory Garden
  • Ideal Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ideal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ideal Cemetery
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Martin Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Martin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Martin Cemetery
  • Wolsey Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Broadland Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Broadland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Broadland Cemetery
  • Atfield Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Atfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Atfield Cemetery
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
  • Cavour Protestant Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cavour Protestant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cavour Protestant Cemetery
  • St. Patrick Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Patrick Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Patrick Cemetery
  • Shue Creek Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shue Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shue Creek Cemetery
  • Aquilla Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Aquilla Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Aquilla Cemetery
  • Continue List   (51 more) ...
    • Zion Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Cemetery
    • Rest Haven Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rest Haven Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rest Haven Cemetery
    • Altoona Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)

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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, James Valley Junction had railroad service and no post office.

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

  • Huron
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron
    • Huron is located in Beadle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,420 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Huron <2>
  • Virgil
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virgil have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgil
    • Virgil is located in Beadle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 18 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Virgil <2>
  • Broadland
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadland
    • Broadland is located in Beadle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 32 people
  • Wolsey
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolsey have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolsey
    • Wolsey is located in Beadle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 400 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wolsey <2>
  • Sheffield
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sheffield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheffield
    • Sheffield is located in Beadle County
  • Cavour
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cavour have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cavour
    • Cavour is located in Beadle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cavour <2>
  • Alpena
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpena have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpena
    • Alpena is located in Jerauld County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alpena <2>
  • Yale
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Bonilla
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonilla
    • Bonilla is located in Beadle County
  • Hitchcock
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hitchcock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hitchcock
    • Hitchcock is located in Beadle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hitchcock <2>
  • Wessington
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wessington have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wessington
    • Wessington is located in Beadle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wessington <2>
  • Spottswood
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spottswood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spottswood
    • Spottswood is located in Spink County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Woonsocket
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Iroquois
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iroquois have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iroquois
      • Iroquois is located in Kingsbury County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iroquois <2>
    • LaDelle
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for LaDelle have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for LaDelle
      • LaDelle is located in Spink County

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

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

The official website for Beadle County: www.beadlecounty.org/

The official website for State of South Dakota: sd.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 from Point A (ie- James Valley Junction) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in James Valley Junction. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.3805, Longitude: -98.2956       In this case, the coordinates for James Valley Junction 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>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 James Valley Junction, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024