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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 Lyonville (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 Lyonville. 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.

Lyonville is located in Brule 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 Brule County: Aurora, Buffalo, Charles Mix, Gregory, Jerauld & Lyman.

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

  • Brule County     (The home county of Lyonville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lyonville, with the one closest to Lyonville listed first.
    • Kimball
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Pukwana
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Chamberlain
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Eagle
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Eagle is located in Brule County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle
      • Estimated population in 2014: 17 people
    • Ola
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Ola is located in Brule County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ola
      • Estimated population in 2014: 108 people
    • Bijou Hills
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Bijou Hills is located in Brule County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bijou Hills
  • Aurora County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lyonville, with the one closest to Lyonville listed first.
    • White Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Plankinton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Storla
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Storla is located in Aurora County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Storla
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 6 people
    • Aurora Center
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Aurora Center is located in Aurora County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora Center
  • Buffalo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lyonville, with the one closest to Lyonville listed first.
    • Gann Valley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Shelby
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Shelby is located in Buffalo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelby
      • Estimated population in 2014: 96 people
    • Crow Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Crow Creek is located in Buffalo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Creek
    • Fort Thompson
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Charles Mix County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lyonville, with the one closest to Lyonville listed first.
    • Academy
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Academy is located in Charles Mix County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Academy
    • Platte Colony
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Platte Colony is located in Charles Mix County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platte Colony
      • Estimated population in 2014: 51 people
  • Hand County
    • Ames
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Ames is located in Hand County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ames
  • Jerauld County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lyonville, with the one closest to Lyonville listed first.
    • Crow Lake
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Crow Lake is located in Jerauld County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Lake
    • Wessington Springs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Lane
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Lyman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lyonville, with the one closest to Lyonville listed first.
    • Oacoma
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • East Lyman
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • East Lyman is located in Lyman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lyman
      • Estimated population in 2019: 145 people

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

Cemeteries Near Lyonville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lyonville.

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 Lyonville - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Lyonville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Vega Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Margarets Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Spring Hill Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Norwegian Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwegian Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Norwegian Cemetery is located 6 miles [9.7 km]<2> to the east of Chamberlain.
    • The Norwegian Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Norwegian Free Lutheran Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #97317 <3>
  • Norwegian Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Salem Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Community Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Community Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Community Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Pukwana.
    • The Community Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Pukwana City Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #96887 <3>
  • St. Anthony Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Crow Creek Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Lutheran Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • St. John the Baptist Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. John the Baptist Cemetery
    • The St. John the Baptist Cemetery has also been known as:
    • St. John the Baptist Episcopal Cemetery
    • St. John's Cemetery
    • St. John's Episcopal Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2168051 <3>
  • Continue List   (39 more) ...
    • National Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for National Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the National Cemetery is located 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the southwest of Kimball.
      • The National Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Bohemian Cemetery
      • St. Vencels Bohemian Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1983736 <3>
    • Bullis Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Riverview Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)

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 Lyonville had a population of 26 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2014, Lyonville had a population of 49 people.

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

  • Kimball
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Gann Valley
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Pukwana
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Crow Lake
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Crow Lake is located in Jerauld County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Lake
  • Crow Creek
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Crow Creek is located in Buffalo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Creek
  • White Lake
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Chamberlain
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Oacoma
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Eagle
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Eagle is located in Brule County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle
    • Estimated population in 2014: 17 people
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Ola
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Ola is located in Brule County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ola
      • Estimated population in 2014: 108 people
    • Wessington Springs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Bijou Hills
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Bijou Hills is located in Brule County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bijou Hills
    • Plankinton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Ames
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Ames is located in Hand County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ames

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

Newspapers Published in Lyonville ...

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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lyonville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lyonville, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lyonville.

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 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 Lyonville:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Lyonville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<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 Lyonville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.