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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 Sinai (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 Sinai. 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.

Sinai is located in Brookings 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 Brookings County: Lincoln (MN), Deuel, Hamlin, Kingsbury, Lake & Moody.

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

  • Brookings County     (The home county of Sinai)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sinai, with the one closest to Sinai listed first.
    • Volga
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Volga is located in Brookings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volga
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,080 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Volga <1>
    • Medary
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Medary is located in Brookings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medary
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,442 people
    • Brookings
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Sunnyview
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Sunnyview is located in Brookings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyview
      • Estimated population in 2014: 17 people
    • Bruce
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Bruce is located in Brookings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruce
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 205 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bruce <1>
    • Aurora
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • North Grove Addition
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • North Grove Addition is located in Brookings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Grove Addition
      • Estimated population in 2014: 471 people
    • Bushnell
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Bushnell is located in Brookings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushnell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
    • White
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • White is located in Brookings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 487 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for White <1>
    • Elkton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Deuel County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sinai, with the one closest to Sinai listed first.
    • Johnsonville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Johnsonville is located in Deuel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsonville
    • Toronto
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Hamlin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sinai, with the one closest to Sinai listed first.
    • Alsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Alsville is located in Hamlin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alsville
    • Estelline
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Lake Norden
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Stone Bridge
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Stone Bridge is located in Hamlin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone Bridge
      • Estimated population in 2014: 105 people
    • Dempster
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Dempster is located in Hamlin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dempster
    • Hayti
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Kingsbury County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sinai, with the one closest to Sinai listed first.
    • Arlington
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Hetland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Oldham
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Badger
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Preston
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Erwin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • De Smet
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sinai, with the one closest to Sinai listed first.
    • Nunda
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Prairie Queen ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Prairie Queen is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Queen
    • Rutland
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Ramona
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Madison
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Prairie Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Prairie Village is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Village
      • Estimated population in 2014: 18 people
    • Wentworth
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Junius
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Junius is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junius
    • Peninsula Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Peninsula Park is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peninsula Park
      • Estimated population in 2014: 32 people
    • Brant Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Brant Lake is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brant Lake
    • Winfred
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Chester
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
  • Miner County
    • Howard
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Minnehaha County
    • Huntimer
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Huntimer is located in Minnehaha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntimer
      • Estimated population in 2014: 590 people
  • Moody County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sinai, with the one closest to Sinai listed first.
    • Dyce ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Dyce is located in Moody County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyce
    • Colman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lone Tree
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Lone Tree is located in Moody County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Tree
      • Estimated population in 2014: 14 people
    • Egan
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Flandreau
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Sioux Falls Junction
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Sioux Falls Junction is located in Moody County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sioux Falls Junction
      • Estimated population in 2014: 119 people
    • Ward
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Trent
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Sinai ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sinai.

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

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

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

  • Sinai Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • East Sinai Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Bethania Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Ash Grove Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Bangor Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Pleasant View Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Prairie Queen Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Olson Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • First Lutheran Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Anns Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (96 more) ...
    • South Lake Campbell Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • West Lake Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Campbell Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Sinai had a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Sinai had a population of 125 people.

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

  • Prairie Queen ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Prairie Queen is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Queen
  • Volga
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Volga is located in Brookings County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volga
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,080 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Volga <1>
  • Arlington
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Ramona
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Brookings
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Hetland
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Oldham
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Bruce
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Bruce is located in Brookings County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruce
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 205 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bruce <1>
  • Madison
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Wentworth
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Aurora
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Lake Preston
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Bushnell
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Bushnell is located in Brookings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushnell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
    • Colman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Winfred
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Sinai ...

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 64 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sinai.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sinai, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sinai.

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 websites either 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 Sinai:

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>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 Sinai, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Sinai) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.