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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 Plankinton (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 Plankinton. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.

Plankinton is located in Aurora County and is the County Seat.

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 Aurora County: Brule, Charles Mix, Davison, Douglas, Jerauld & Sanborn.

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

  • Aurora County     (The home county of Plankinton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plankinton, with the one closest to Plankinton listed first.
    • Stickney
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stickney have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stickney
      • Stickney is located in Aurora County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 267 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stickney <2>
    • White Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Lake
      • White Lake is located in Aurora County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 365 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for White Lake <2>
    • Storla
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Storla have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Storla
      • Storla is located in Aurora County
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 6 people
    • Aurora Center
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aurora Center have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora Center
      • Aurora Center is located in Aurora County
  • Brule County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plankinton, with the one closest to Plankinton listed first.
    • Kimball
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Lyonville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyonville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyonville
      • Lyonville is located in Brule County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 49 people
  • Charles Mix County
  • Davison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plankinton, with the one closest to Plankinton listed first.
    • Mount Vernon
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Vernon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vernon
      • Mount Vernon is located in Davison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 438 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Vernon <2>
    • Loomis
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loomis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loomis
      • Loomis is located in Davison County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Loomis <2>
    • River Bluff Addition
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for River Bluff Addition have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Bluff Addition
      • River Bluff Addition is located in Davison County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 13 people
    • Mitchell
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Ethan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plankinton, with the one closest to Plankinton listed first.
    • Harrison
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harrison have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrison
      • Harrison is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harrison <2>
    • Corsica
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Corsica have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corsica
      • Corsica is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 569 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Corsica <2>
    • New Holland
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Hillside
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillside have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside
      • Hillside is located in Douglas County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 31 people
    • Joubert
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Douglas City ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Douglas City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas City
      • Douglas City is located in Douglas County
    • Armour
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Armour have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armour
      • Armour is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 666 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Armour <2>
  • Hanson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plankinton, with the one closest to Plankinton listed first.
    • Plano
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plano have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plano
      • Plano is located in Hanson County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 104 people
    • Farwell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Farwell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farwell
      • Farwell is located in Hanson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Farwell
      • From Plankinton to Farwell
  • Hutchinson County
    • Dimock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dimock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dimock
      • Dimock is located in Hutchinson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 171 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dimock <2>
  • Jerauld County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plankinton, with the one closest to Plankinton listed first.
    • Crow Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Crow Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Lake
      • Crow Lake is located in Jerauld County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Crow Lake
      • From Plankinton to Crow Lake
    • Lane
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lane have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
  • Sanborn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plankinton, with the one closest to Plankinton listed first.
    • Cuthbert
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Letcher
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Letcher have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Letcher
      • Letcher is located in Sanborn County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 176 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Letcher <2>
    • Woonsocket
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Forestburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Plankinton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Plankinton.

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

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

  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Plankinton Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Knutson Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Knutson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Knutson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dudley Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dudley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dudley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Mary Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Mary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Mary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Quaker Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Quaker Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Quaker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Silver Ridge Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Silver Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Silver Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Crystal Lake Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crystal Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crystal Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Paul Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Paul Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Paul Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old St. Paul Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old St. Paul Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old St. Paul Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Emmanuel Lutheran Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Emmanuel Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Emmanuel Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Vernon Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Vernon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Vernon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (66 more) ...
    • Victor Lutheran Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Victor Lutheran Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Victor Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Union Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Quaker Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Quaker Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Quaker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Plankinton had a population of 604 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Plankinton had a population of 725 people.

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

  • Mount Vernon
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Vernon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vernon
    • Mount Vernon is located in Davison County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 438 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Vernon <2>
  • White Lake
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Lake
    • White Lake is located in Aurora County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 365 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for White Lake <2>
  • Harrison
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harrison have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrison
    • Harrison is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harrison <2>
  • New Holland
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Crow Lake
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Crow Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Lake
    • Crow Lake is located in Jerauld County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Crow Lake
    • From Plankinton to Crow Lake
  • Joubert
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Letcher
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Letcher have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Letcher
    • Letcher is located in Sanborn County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 176 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Letcher <2>
  • Grandview ‑ Historic
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grandview have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
    • Grandview is located in Douglas County
  • Mitchell
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
  • Kimball
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • Woonsocket
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Wessington Springs
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Lyonville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyonville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyonville
      • Lyonville is located in Brule County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 49 people
    • Ethan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Armour
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Armour have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armour
      • Armour is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 666 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Armour <2>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Plankinton ...

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 71 newspapers that have been published in the area around Plankinton.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Plankinton. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Plankinton and those printed in the larger area surrounding Plankinton.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6> of Plankinton.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Plankinton:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Plankinton. 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>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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 Plankinton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 from Point A (ie- Plankinton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Plankinton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.7159, Longitude: -98.4852    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 16 Jul 2025