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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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Sinai is located in Brookings 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 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)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volga
      • Volga is located in Brookings County
      • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Medary have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medary
      • Medary is located in Brookings County
      • 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)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyview
      • Sunnyview is located in Brookings County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 17 people
    • Bruce
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruce
      • Bruce is located in Brookings County
      • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aurora have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
      • Aurora is located in Brookings County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 866 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Aurora <1>
    • North Grove Addition
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Grove Addition have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Grove Addition
      • North Grove Addition is located in Brookings County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 471 people
    • Bushnell
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushnell
      • Bushnell is located in Brookings County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
    • White
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
      • White is located in Brookings County
      • 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)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsonville
      • Johnsonville is located in Deuel County
    • 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)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alsville
      • Alsville is located in Hamlin County
    • Estelline
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Estelline have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estelline
      • Estelline is located in Hamlin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Estelline <1>
    • Lake Norden
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Stone Bridge
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stone Bridge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone Bridge
      • Stone Bridge is located in Hamlin County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 105 people
    • Dempster
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dempster
      • Dempster is located in Hamlin County
    • Hayti
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hayti have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayti
      • Hayti is located in Hamlin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 381 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hayti <1>
  • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arlington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
      • Arlington is located in Kingsbury County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 872 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arlington <1>
    • Hetland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Oldham
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oldham have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oldham
      • Oldham is located in Kingsbury County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oldham <1>
    • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Erwin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erwin
      • Erwin is located in Kingsbury County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 45 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Erwin <1>
    • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nunda have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nunda
      • Nunda is located in Lake County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 50 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nunda <1>
    • Rutland
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Ramona
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ramona have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramona
      • Ramona is located in Lake County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 202 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ramona <1>
    • Madison
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Prairie Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Village
      • Prairie Village is located in Lake County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 18 people
    • Wentworth
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Junius
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junius
      • Junius is located in Lake County
    • Peninsula Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peninsula Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peninsula Park
      • Peninsula Park is located in Lake County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 32 people
    • Brant Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brant Lake
      • Brant Lake is located in Lake County
    • Winfred
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winfred have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winfred
      • Winfred is located in Lake County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 162 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winfred <1>
    • Chester
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Franklin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Franklin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
      • Franklin is located in Lake County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 333 people
  • Miner County
    • Howard
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Minnehaha County
    • Huntimer
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntimer
      • Huntimer is located in Minnehaha County
      • 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)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dyce. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyce
      • Dyce is located in Moody County
    • Colman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lone Tree
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lone Tree have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Tree
      • Lone Tree is located in Moody County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 14 people
    • Egan
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Egan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egan
      • Egan is located in Moody County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Egan <1>
    • Flandreau
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flandreau have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flandreau
      • Flandreau is located in Moody County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,293 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Flandreau <1>
    • Sioux Falls Junction
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sioux Falls Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sioux Falls Junction
      • Sioux Falls Junction is located in Moody County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 119 people
    • Ward
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ward have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ward
      • Ward is located in Moody County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 51 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ward <1>
    • Trent
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trent have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trent
      • Trent is located in Moody County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 226 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Trent <1>

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.

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 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)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sinai Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sinai Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • East Sinai Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Sinai Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Sinai Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethania Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Ash Grove Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ash Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ash Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bangor Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bangor Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bangor Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pleasant View Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant View Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Prairie Queen Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prairie Queen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prairie Queen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Olson Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Olson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Olson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • First Lutheran Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the First Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the First Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Anns Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Anns Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Anns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (95 more) ...
    • South Lake Campbell Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Lake Campbell Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Lake Campbell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • West Lake Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Campbell Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lake Campbell Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lake Campbell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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.<4>

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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie Queen have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Queen
    • Prairie Queen is located in Lake County
  • Volga
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volga
    • Volga is located in Brookings County
    • 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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arlington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
    • Arlington is located in Kingsbury County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 872 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arlington <1>
  • Ramona
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ramona have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramona
    • Ramona is located in Lake County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 202 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ramona <1>
  • 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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oldham have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oldham
    • Oldham is located in Kingsbury County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oldham <1>
  • Bruce
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruce
    • Bruce is located in Brookings County
    • 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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aurora have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
    • Aurora is located in Brookings County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 866 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Aurora <1>
  • Lake Preston
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Bushnell
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushnell
      • Bushnell is located in Brookings County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
    • Colman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Winfred
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winfred have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winfred
      • Winfred is located in Lake County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 162 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winfred <1>

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]<5>. 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 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 Sinai:

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

The official website for Brookings County: www.brookingscountysd.gov/

The official website for State of South Dakota: https://www.sd.gov/

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>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.
<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>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.
<5>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- Sinai) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sinai. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.2450, Longitude: -97.0434       In this case, the coordinates for Sinai have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025