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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 Pleasant Vally Development (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 Pleasant Vally Development. 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 hospitals and 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.

Pleasant Vally Development is located in Brown 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 Brown County: Dickey (ND), Sargent (ND), Day, Edmunds, Faulk, Marshall, McPherson & Spink.

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

  • Brown County     (The home county of Pleasant Vally Development)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Vally Development, with the one closest to Pleasant Vally Development listed first.
    • Gederos Estates
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Gederos Estates is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gederos Estates
      • Estimated population in 2014: 212 people
    • Aberdeen
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Prairie Wood Village Addition
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • 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
      (7 miles [11.3 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
    • Ordway
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Ordway is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ordway
      • Estimated population in 2014: 306 people
    • Westport
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jobee Acres
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jobee Acres is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jobee Acres
      • Estimated population in 2014: 15 people
    • Bath Corner
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Bath Corner is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath Corner
    • Bath
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Warner
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Columbia
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Barnard
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Tacoma Park
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Tacoma Park is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tacoma Park
      • Estimated population in 2014: 413 people
  • Edmunds County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Vally Development, with the one closest to Pleasant Vally Development listed first.
    • Mina
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Mina is located in Edmunds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mina
      • Mina has also been known as:
      • Cortland
      • Cortlandt
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mina <1>
    • Craven Corner
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Craven Corner is located in Edmunds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craven Corner
    • Craven
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Craven is located in Edmunds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craven
    • Ipswich
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Powell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Powell is located in Edmunds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell
    • Beebe
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Beebe is located in Edmunds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beebe
  • Faulk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Vally Development, with the one closest to Pleasant Vally Development listed first.
    • Chelsea
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Chelsea is located in Faulk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chelsea
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26 people
    • Cresbard
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • McPherson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Vally Development, with the one closest to Pleasant Vally Development listed first.
    • Wetonka
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Wetonka is located in McPherson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wetonka
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7 people
    • Long Lake Colony
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Long Lake Colony is located in McPherson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake Colony
      • Estimated population in 2014: 332 people
    • Leola
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Leola is located in McPherson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leola
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 420 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leola <1>
    • Spring Creek Colony
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Spring Creek Colony is located in McPherson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Creek Colony
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 268 people
  • Spink County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Vally Development, with the one closest to Pleasant Vally Development listed first.
    • Duxbury
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Duxbury is located in Spink County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duxbury
      • Estimated population in 2014: 531 people
    • Mellette
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Northville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Brentford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Dickey County (ND)
    • Forbes
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Forbes is located in Dickey County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forbes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 43 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Forbes <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Pleasant Vally Development ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pleasant Vally Development.

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 Pleasant Vally Development - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Sunset Memorial Gardens
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Westport Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Pembrook Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Wetonka Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Warner Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Richland Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • New Straasburg Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Strassburg Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Scandinavia Lutheran Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (26 more) ...
    • German Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Bretheren Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • James Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)

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>

While we didn't find Pleasant Vally Development in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Pleasant Vally Development.

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

  • Aberdeen
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Ordway
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Ordway is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ordway
    • Estimated population in 2014: 306 people
  • Westport
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Mina
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Mina is located in Edmunds County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mina
    • Mina has also been known as:
    • Cortland
    • Cortlandt
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mina <1>
  • Rudolph
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Rudolph is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rudolph
  • Bath
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Warner
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Plana
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Plana is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plana
  • Columbia
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • James
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • James is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for James
  • Mansfield
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Duxbury
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Duxbury is located in Spink County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duxbury
    • Estimated population in 2014: 531 people
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Putney
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Putney is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Putney
      • Estimated population in 2014: 104 people
    • Frederick
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Ipswich
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Pleasant Vally Development ...

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 53 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pleasant Vally Development.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pleasant Vally Development, 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 Pleasant Vally Development.

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 Pleasant Vally Development:

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 '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- Pleasant Vally Development) 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 Pleasant Vally Development, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.