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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Spokane. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Spokane to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Spokane, please Contact Us.

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 Spokane (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 Spokane. 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Spokane is historic, it would have been located within present day Custer 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 Custer County: Fall River, Oglala Lakota, Pennington, Niobrara (WY) & Weston (WY).

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

  • Custer County     (The home county of Spokane)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spokane, with the one closest to Spokane listed first.
    • State Game Lodge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for State Game Lodge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Game Lodge
      • State Game Lodge is located in Custer County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 29 people
    • Hermosa
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Custer
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Fairburn
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairburn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairburn
      • Fairburn is located in Custer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairburn <3>
    • Sanator
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sanator have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanator
      • Sanator is located in Custer County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,350 people
    • Fourmile
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fourmile have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fourmile
      • Fourmile is located in Custer County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 70 people
    • Pringle
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pringle have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pringle
      • Pringle is located in Custer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pringle <3>
    • Buffalo Gap
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Ivanhoe ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ivanhoe have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
      • Ivanhoe is located in Custer County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 144 people
  • Fall River County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spokane, with the one closest to Spokane listed first.
    • Hot Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Erskine
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Erskine. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erskine
      • Erskine is located in Fall River County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Erskine
      • From Spokane to Erskine
    • Oral
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oral have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oral
      • Oral is located in Fall River County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 206 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oral <3>
  • Lawrence County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spokane, with the one closest to Spokane listed first.
    • Merritt
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Merritt have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merritt
      • Merritt is located in Lawrence County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 175 people
    • Nemo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Tomahawk
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tomahawk have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomahawk
      • Tomahawk is located in Lawrence County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 36 people
    • Diamond City ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Diamond City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond City
      • Diamond City is located in Lawrence County
    • Greenwood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Gregory ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gregory have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
  • Meade County
  • Pennington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spokane, with the one closest to Spokane listed first.
    • Frenchtown ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frenchtown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchtown
      • Frenchtown is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 276 people
    • Harney
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harney have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harney
      • Harney is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 64 people
    • Hayward ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hayward have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayward
      • Hayward is located in Pennington County
    • Keystone
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Rockerville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Stratosphere Bowl
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stratosphere Bowl have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratosphere Bowl
      • Stratosphere Bowl is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 72 people
    • Sheridan ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sheridan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan
      • Sheridan is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 447 people
    • Colonial Pine Hills
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colonial Pine Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Pine Hills
      • Colonial Pine Hills is located in Pennington County
    • Hill City
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hill City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill City
      • Hill City is located in Pennington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,074 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hill City <3>
    • Wildwood Addition
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wildwood Addition have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood Addition
      • Wildwood Addition is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 55 people
    • Johnson Siding
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Pactola ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pactola. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pactola
      • Pactola is located in Pennington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pactola
      • From Spokane to Pactola

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

Cemeteries Near Spokane ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Spokane.

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

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

  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Rockerville Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Custer Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Custer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Custer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fairburn Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairburn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairburn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pine Lawn Memorial Park
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Lawn Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Lawn Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Mt. Calvary Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Calvary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pringle Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pringle Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pringle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Blackhawk Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blackhawk Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blackhawk Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Buffalo Gap Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Buffalo Gap Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Buffalo Gap Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Larsen Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Larsen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Larsen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rochford Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rochford Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rochford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Piedmont Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Hot Springs National Cemetery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hot Springs National Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hot Springs National 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.

Spokane itself is historic and was described in the Rand McNally Atlas as having a post office and no railroad service. In 2014, Spokane had a population of 3,237 people.

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

  • Hayward ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hayward have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayward
    • Hayward is located in Pennington County
  • Rockerville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Hermosa
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Sheridan ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sheridan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan
    • Sheridan is located in Pennington County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 447 people
  • Hill City
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hill City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill City
    • Hill City is located in Pennington County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,074 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hill City <3>
  • Custer
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Oreville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oreville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oreville
    • Oreville is located in Pennington County
  • Berne
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berne have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berne
    • Berne is located in Custer County
  • Fairburn
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairburn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairburn
    • Fairburn is located in Custer County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairburn <3>
  • Pactola ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pactola. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pactola
    • Pactola is located in Pennington County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Pactola
    • From Spokane to Pactola
  • Redfern
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Redfern have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redfern
    • Redfern is located in Pennington County
  • Rapid City
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Pringle
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pringle have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pringle
      • Pringle is located in Custer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pringle <3>
    • Silver City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
    • Mystic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Spokane ...

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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around Spokane.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Spokane, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Spokane.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Spokane:

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Spokane, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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 from Point A (ie- Spokane) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Spokane. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.8421, Longitude: -103.3808       In this case, the coordinates for Spokane have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025