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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 Spring Creek Colony (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 Spring Creek Colony. 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.

Name Variations for Spring Creek Colony ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Spring Creek Colony: Spring Crk. Colony (or less commonly used: Spring Ck. Colony or Spring Cr. Colony)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Spring Creek Colony. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Spring Creek Colony.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 and doctors 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.

Spring Creek Colony is located in McPherson 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 McPherson County: Dickey (ND), McIntosh (ND), Brown, Campbell & Edmunds.

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

  • McPherson County     (The home county of Spring Creek Colony)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Creek Colony, with the one closest to Spring Creek Colony listed first.
    • Leola
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • 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>
    • Long Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Long Lake is located in McPherson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 31 people
    • Wetonka
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Wetonka is located in McPherson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wetonka
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7 people
    • Long Lake Colony
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Long Lake Colony is located in McPherson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake Colony
      • Estimated population in 2014: 332 people
  • Brown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Creek Colony, with the one closest to Spring Creek Colony listed first.
    • Winship
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Winship is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winship
      • Estimated population in 2014: 2,862 people
    • Frederick
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Barnard
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Westport
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Pleasant Vally Development
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Dickey County (ND)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Creek Colony, with the one closest to Spring Creek Colony listed first.
    • Forbes
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • 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>
    • Ellendale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Merricourt
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Merricourt is located in Dickey County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merricourt
    • Monango
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Monango is located in Dickey County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monango
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 36 people
    • Silverleaf
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Silverleaf is located in Dickey County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silverleaf
    • Fullerton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • LaMoure County (ND)
    • Kulm
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Kulm is located in LaMoure County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kulm
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 335 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kulm <1>
  • Logan County (ND)
    • Fredonia
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • McIntosh County (ND)
    • Ashley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Ashley is located in McIntosh County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 645 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ashley <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Spring Creek Colony ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Spring Creek Colony.

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 Spring Creek Colony - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Forbes Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Peters Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Saron Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • St. Hyacinth Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Hoffnungs Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Ehpresman Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Gienger Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Hoffnungs Gemeinde Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Wirch Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Cemetery of Salem
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Lucas Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (56 more) ...
    • Emmanuel Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Green Mound Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Bretheren Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)

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 Spring Creek Colony in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Spring Creek Colony.

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

  • Leola
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • 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>
  • Long Lake
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Long Lake is located in McPherson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 31 people
  • Winship
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Winship is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winship
    • Estimated population in 2014: 2,862 people
  • Frederick
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Duane
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Duane is located in Dickey County (ND)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duane
  • Merricourt
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Merricourt is located in Dickey County (ND)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merricourt
  • Boynton
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Boynton is located in Dickey County (ND)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boynton
  • Monango
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Monango is located in Dickey County (ND)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monango
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 36 people
  • Silverleaf
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Silverleaf is located in Dickey County (ND)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silverleaf
  • Lowell
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Lowell is located in McIntosh County (ND)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
  • Westport
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Ashley
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Ashley is located in McIntosh County (ND)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashley
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 645 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ashley <1>
  • Fullerton
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Spring Creek Colony ...

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 29 newspapers that have been published in the area around Spring Creek Colony.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Spring Creek Colony, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Spring Creek Colony.

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 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 Spring Creek Colony:

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 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Spring Creek Colony) 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 Spring Creek Colony, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.