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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 Lake Preston (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 Lake Preston. 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 Lake Preston ...

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 Lake Preston: Lk. Preston

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Lake Preston is located in Kingsbury 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 Kingsbury County: Beadle, Brookings, Clark, Hamlin, Lake, Miner & Sanborn.

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

  • Kingsbury County     (The home county of Lake Preston)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Preston, with the one closest to Lake Preston listed first.
    • Hetland
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • De Smet
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Erwin
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Erwin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erwin
      • Erwin is located in Kingsbury County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 45 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Erwin <1>
    • Oldham
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oldham have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oldham
      • Oldham is located in Kingsbury County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oldham <1>
    • Arlington
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arlington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
      • Arlington is located in Kingsbury County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 872 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arlington <1>
    • Badger
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Manchester
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manchester have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
    • Bancroft
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bancroft. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bancroft
      • Bancroft is located in Kingsbury County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bancroft
      • From Lake Preston to Bancroft
    • Esmond
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Esmond have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
    • Iroquois
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Osceola
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Osceola. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola
      • Osceola is located in Kingsbury County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 90 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Osceola
      • From Lake Preston to Osceola
  • Beadle County
  • Brookings County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Preston, with the one closest to Lake Preston listed first.
    • Sinai
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sinai have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sinai
      • Sinai is located in Brookings County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 125 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sinai <1>
    • Volga
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Bruce
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Sunnyview
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Brookings
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • North Grove Addition
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Grove Addition have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Grove Addition
      • North Grove Addition is located in Brookings County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 471 people
    • Medary
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Medary have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medary
      • Medary is located in Brookings County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,442 people
  • Clark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Preston, with the one closest to Lake Preston listed first.
    • Success ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Success have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Success
      • Success is located in Clark County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 6,741 people
    • Willow Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Lake
      • Willow Lake is located in Clark County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 244 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willow Lake <1>
    • Vienna
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Pitrodie ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pitrodie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
    • Naples
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Hamlin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Preston, with the one closest to Lake Preston listed first.
    • Bryant
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Lake Norden
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Alsville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Hayti
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hayti have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayti
      • Hayti is located in Hamlin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 381 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hayti <1>
    • Stone Bridge
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stone Bridge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone Bridge
      • Stone Bridge is located in Hamlin County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 105 people
    • Hazel
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hazel have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel
      • Hazel is located in Hamlin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hazel <1>
    • Dempster
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Estelline
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Estelline have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estelline
      • Estelline is located in Hamlin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Estelline <1>
    • Thomas
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Kones Corner
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Castlewood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Preston, with the one closest to Lake Preston listed first.
    • Ramona
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ramona have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramona
      • Ramona is located in Lake County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 202 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ramona <1>
    • Nunda
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nunda have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nunda
      • Nunda is located in Lake County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 50 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nunda <1>
    • Junius
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Winfred
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winfred have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winfred
      • Winfred is located in Lake County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 162 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winfred <1>
    • Prairie Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Village
      • Prairie Village is located in Lake County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 18 people
    • Madison
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Rutland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Miner County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Preston, with the one closest to Lake Preston listed first.
    • Carthage
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Howard
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Vilas
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Vilas. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vilas
      • Vilas is located in Miner County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Vilas
      • From Lake Preston to Vilas
    • Roswell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roswell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roswell
      • Roswell is located in Miner County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 70 people
  • Moody County
    • Dyce ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dyce. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyce
      • Dyce is located in Moody County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Dyce
      • From Lake Preston to Dyce

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

Cemeteries Near Lake Preston ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lake Preston.

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

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

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 Lake Preston had a population of 337 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Lake Preston had a population of 558 people.

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

  • Hetland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • De Smet
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Oldham
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oldham have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oldham
    • Oldham is located in Kingsbury County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oldham <1>
  • Erwin
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Erwin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erwin
    • Erwin is located in Kingsbury County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 45 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Erwin <1>
  • Arlington
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arlington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
    • Arlington is located in Kingsbury County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 872 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arlington <1>
  • Bryant
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Success ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Success have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Success
    • Success is located in Clark County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 6,741 people
  • Manchester
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manchester have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
  • Ramona
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ramona have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramona
    • Ramona is located in Lake County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 202 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ramona <1>
  • Sinai
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sinai have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sinai
    • Sinai is located in Brookings County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 125 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sinai <1>
  • Esmond
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Esmond have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
  • Bancroft
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bancroft. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bancroft
    • Bancroft is located in Kingsbury County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 19 people
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Bancroft
    • From Lake Preston to Bancroft
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Lake Preston ...

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 54 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lake Preston.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lake Preston, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lake Preston.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Lake Preston:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Lake Preston. 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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.
<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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Lake Preston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lake Preston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.3611, Longitude: -97.3732    
<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 Lake Preston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025