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 Leola (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 Leola. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.
Leola is located in McPherson County and is the County Seat.
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 McPherson County: Dickey (ND), McIntosh (ND), Brown, Campbell & Edmunds.
Below are the counties that are near Leola. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Leola:
- McPherson County (The home county of Leola)
- The following are listed by their distance from Leola, with the one closest to Leola listed first.
- Long Lake Colony
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Long Lake Colony is located in McPherson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake Colony
- Estimated population in 2014: 332 people
- Wetonka
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Wetonka is located in McPherson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wetonka
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7 people
- Spring Creek Colony
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Spring Creek Colony is located in McPherson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Creek Colony
- Population from the 2010 Census: 268 people
- Long Lake
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Long Lake is located in McPherson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 31 people
- Hillsview
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Hillsview is located in McPherson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3 people
- Brown County
- The following are listed by their distance from Leola, with the one closest to Leola listed first.
- Barnard
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Westport
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Frederick
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Pleasant Vally Development
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Winship
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Winship is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winship
- Estimated population in 2014: 2,862 people
- Gederos Estates
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Gederos Estates is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gederos Estates
- Estimated population in 2014: 212 people
- Ordway
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Ordway is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ordway
- Estimated population in 2014: 306 people
- Aberdeen
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Prairie Wood Village Addition
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Prairie Wood Village Addition is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Wood Village Addition
- Estimated population in 2014: 276 people
- Melrose Addition
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Melrose Addition is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose Addition
- Estimated population in 2014: 221 people
- Edmunds County
- The following are listed by their distance from Leola, with the one closest to Leola listed first.
- Craven Corner
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Craven Corner is located in Edmunds County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craven Corner
- Craven
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Craven is located in Edmunds County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craven
- Ipswich
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Mina
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Beebe
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Beebe is located in Edmunds County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beebe
- Roscoe
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hosmer
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Powell
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Powell is located in Edmunds County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell
- Dickey County (ND)
- The following are listed by their distance from Leola, with the one closest to Leola listed first.
- Forbes
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Ellendale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- McIntosh County (ND)
- Ashley
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Leola, see our County-by-County Page for Leola.
Cemeteries Near Leola ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Leola.
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 Leola - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Leola covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Leola, with the one closest to Leola listed first.
- Green Mound Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- St. Hyacinth Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Hoffnungs Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Wetonka Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Bretheren Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Hoffnungs Gemeinde Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Arena Valley Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Rueb Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Saron Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Gienger Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Leola Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Continue List (50 more) ...
- Ehpresman Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Congregational Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- New Straasburg Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
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.<4>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Leola had a population of 428 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Leola had a population of 420 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Leola, with the one closest to Leola listed first.
- Long Lake
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Long Lake is located in McPherson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 31 people
- Ipswich
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Mina
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Westport
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Frederick
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Winship
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Winship is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winship
- Estimated population in 2014: 2,862 people
- Roscoe
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Lowell
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Lowell is located in McIntosh County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
- Hosmer
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Ordway
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Ordway is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ordway
- Estimated population in 2014: 306 people
- Aberdeen
(28 miles [45.1 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 Leola. See our List of 1890's Communities around Leola.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Leola ...
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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Leola.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Leola. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Leola and those printed in the larger area surrounding Leola.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Leola.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Leola:
- Websites specific to South Dakota
- Pages specific to McPherson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Brown County
- Edmunds County
- Dickey County
- McIntosh 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> | 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- Leola) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | 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 Leola, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |