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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 Preston (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 Preston. 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 and hospitals 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.

Preston is located in Lawrence 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 Lawrence County: Butte, Meade, Pennington, Crook (WY) & Weston (WY).

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

  • Lawrence County     (The home county of Preston)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
    • Ragged Top ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ragged Top have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ragged Top
      • Ragged Top is located in Lawrence County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 73 people
    • Trojan
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trojan
      • Trojan is located in Lawrence County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 627 people
    • Savoy
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Carbonate ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carbonate have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbonate
      • Carbonate is located in Lawrence County
    • Maurice
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maurice
      • Maurice is located in Lawrence County
    • Central City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central City
      • Central City is located in Lawrence County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
    • Lancaster City ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lancaster City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster City
      • Lancaster City is located in Lawrence County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 419 people
    • Lead
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lead have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lead
      • Lead is located in Lawrence County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,947 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lead <2>
    • Englewood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Englewood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englewood
      • Englewood is located in Lawrence County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 25 people
    • Deadwood
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Tinton ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tinton
      • Tinton is located in Lawrence County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 477 people
    • Spearfish
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spearfish have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spearfish
      • Spearfish is located in Lawrence County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,900 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spearfish <2>
    • Dumont
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumont
      • Dumont is located in Lawrence County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 45 people
  • Butte County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
    • Belle Fourche
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belle Fourche have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Fourche
      • Belle Fourche is located in Butte County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,742 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Belle Fourche <2>
    • Fruitdale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fruitdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitdale
      • Fruitdale is located in Butte County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 68 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fruitdale <2>
    • Nisland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nisland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nisland
      • Nisland is located in Butte County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 227 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nisland <2>
    • Vale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Meade County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
    • Sturgis
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Tilford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tilford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilford
      • Tilford is located in Meade County
    • Piedmont
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Summerset
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Pennington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
    • Rochford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Myersville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Myersville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myersville
      • Myersville is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 10 people
    • Fairview ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairview have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
      • Fairview is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 65 people
    • Mystic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mystic
      • Mystic is located in Pennington County
    • Canyon City ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Canyon City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canyon City
      • Canyon City is located in Pennington County
    • Silver City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
      • Silver City is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 60 people
    • Pactola ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pactola have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pactola
      • Pactola is located in Pennington County
    • Johnson Siding
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson Siding
      • Johnson Siding is located in Pennington County
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 659 people
  • Crook County (WY)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
    • Moskee ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moskee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moskee
      • Moskee is located in Crook County (WY)
    • Beulah
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Aladdin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Sundance
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Weston County (WY)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
    • Four Corners
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Horton ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Horton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horton
      • Horton is located in Weston County (WY)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Preston ...

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 90 newspapers that have been published in the area around Preston.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Preston. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Preston and those printed in the larger area surrounding Preston.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3> of Preston.

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 Preston:

Cemeteries Near Preston ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Preston.

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

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

  • Preston Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Terry Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Terry Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Terry Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2310671 <5>
  • Carbonate Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • West Lead Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Lead Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Lead Cemetery
  • Englewood Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • South Lead Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Bear Gulch Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bear Gulch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bear Gulch Cemetery
  • Ward Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ward Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ward Cemetery
  • Seth Bullock Grave
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Seth Bullock Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Seth Bullock Grave
  • Mt. Moran Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Mt. Moriah Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • St. Ambrose Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (29 more) ...

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>

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

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

  • Carbonate ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carbonate have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbonate
    • Carbonate is located in Lawrence County
  • Central City
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central City
    • Central City is located in Lawrence County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
  • Englewood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Englewood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englewood
    • Englewood is located in Lawrence County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 25 people
  • Lead
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lead have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lead
    • Lead is located in Lawrence County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,947 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lead <2>
  • Terraville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Terraville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terraville
    • Terraville is located in Lawrence County
  • Woodville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodville
    • Woodville is located in Lawrence County
  • Pluma
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pluma have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pluma
    • Pluma is located in Lawrence County
  • Deadwood
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Spearfish
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spearfish have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spearfish
    • Spearfish is located in Lawrence County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,900 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spearfish <2>
  • Brownsville ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brownsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsville
    • Brownsville is located in Lawrence County
  • Galena
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galena
    • Galena is located in Lawrence County
  • Crook City
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crook City
    • Crook City is located in Lawrence County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Nahant
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nahant have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nahant
      • Nahant is located in Lawrence County
    • Whitewood
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whitewood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitewood
      • Whitewood is located in Lawrence County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 999 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Whitewood <2>
    • Gregory ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gregory have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
      • Gregory is located in Lawrence County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,264 people

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Preston. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Lawrence County: www.lawrence.sd.us/

The official website for State of South Dakota: 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>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- Preston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Preston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.3578, Longitude: -103.8875    
<4>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.
<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 Preston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024