RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of South Dakota >> Day County >> Lily >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
South Dakota

The Commemorative Quarter for South Dakota





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 Lily (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 Lily. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Lily is located in Day 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 Day County: Brown, Clark, Codington, Grant, Marshall, Roberts & Spink.

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

  • Day County     (The home county of Lily)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lily, with the one closest to Lily listed first.
    • Butler
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Butler. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler
      • Butler is located in Day County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Butler
      • From Lily to Butler
    • Bristol
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bristol have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol
      • Bristol is located in Day County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bristol <3>
    • Holmquist
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Webster
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Crandall
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Andover
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Waubay
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Pierpont
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pierpont have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierpont
      • Pierpont is located in Day County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pierpont <3>
    • Roslyn
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roslyn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roslyn
      • Roslyn is located in Day County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 165 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roslyn <3>
    • Grenville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grenville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grenville
      • Grenville is located in Day County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 50 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grenville <3>
  • Brown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lily, with the one closest to Lily listed first.
    • Verdon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Verdon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verdon
      • Verdon is located in Brown County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Verdon
      • From Lily to Verdon
    • Ferney
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Randolph
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Randolph. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
      • Randolph is located in Brown County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Randolph
      • From Lily to Randolph
    • Groton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Groton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton
      • Groton is located in Brown County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,475 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Groton <3>
  • Clark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lily, with the one closest to Lily listed first.
    • Bradley
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Crocker
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Garden City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Clark
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Elrod
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elrod have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elrod
      • Elrod is located in Clark County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 92 people
    • Raymond
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Raymond have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
      • Raymond is located in Clark County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Raymond <3>
    • Naples
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Merton ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Merton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merton
      • Merton is located in Clark County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 55 people
  • Codington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lily, with the one closest to Lily listed first.
    • Wallace
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wallace have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallace
      • Wallace is located in Codington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wallace <3>
    • Florence
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Florence have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
      • Florence is located in Codington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 358 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Florence <3>
    • Henry
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Kampeska
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Marshall County
  • Roberts County
    • Ortley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ortley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ortley
      • Ortley is located in Roberts County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ortley <3>
  • Spink County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lily, with the one closest to Lily listed first.
    • Conde
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Turton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turton
      • Turton is located in Spink County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Turton <3>
    • Doland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Doland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doland
      • Doland is located in Spink County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Doland <3>
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Doland
      • From Lily to Doland

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

Cemeteries Near Lily ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lily.

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

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

  • Hillside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Our Saviors Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Our Saviors Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Our Saviors Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Saviors Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Saviors Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Saviors Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Highland Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Highland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Ansgaar Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Ansgaar Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Ansgaar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Prairie Mound Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Ebenezer Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ebenezer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ebenezer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hosanger Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hosanger Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hosanger Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Thomas Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Thomas Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Thomas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethany Evangelical Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethany Evangelical Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethany Evangelical Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Pauli Lutheran Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Pauli Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Pauli Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (68 more) ...
    • St. Otto's Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Otto's Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Otto's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Webster Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Webster Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Webster Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Wheatland Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wheatland Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wheatland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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 Lily had a population of 18 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2019, Lily had a population of 4 people.

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

  • Butler
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Butler. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler
    • Butler is located in Day County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 16 people
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Butler
    • From Lily to Butler
  • Bradley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Bristol
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bristol have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol
    • Bristol is located in Day County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bristol <3>
  • Julian ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Julian have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Julian
    • Julian is located in Clark County
  • Webster
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Garden City
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Andover
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Clark
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Verdon
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Verdon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verdon
    • Verdon is located in Brown County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5 people
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Verdon
    • From Lily to Verdon
  • Conde
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Elrod
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elrod have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elrod
    • Elrod is located in Clark County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 92 people
  • Waubay
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Turton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turton
      • Turton is located in Spink County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Turton <3>
    • Raymond
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Raymond have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
      • Raymond is located in Clark County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Raymond <3>
    • Pierpont
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pierpont have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierpont
      • Pierpont is located in Day County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pierpont <3>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Lily ...

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 41 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lily.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Lily. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Lily and those printed in the larger area surrounding Lily.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4> of Lily.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Lily:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Lily. 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>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.
<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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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- Lily) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lily. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.1811, Longitude: -97.6814    
<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 Lily, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025