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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 Valley 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 Valley 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 Valley 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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Spring Valley Colony: Spring Vly. Colony (or less commonly used: Spring Vally. Colony or Spring Vlly. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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 Valley Colony is located in Jerauld 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 Jerauld County: Aurora, Beadle, Brule, Buffalo, Davison, Hand & Sanborn.

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

  • Jerauld County     (The home county of Spring Valley Colony)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley Colony, with the one closest to Spring Valley Colony listed first.
    • Crow Lake
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Crow Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Lake
      • Crow Lake is located in Jerauld County
    • Wessington Springs
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Lane
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lane have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane
      • Lane is located in Jerauld County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lane <2>
    • Alpena
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpena have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpena
      • Alpena is located in Jerauld County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alpena <2>
  • Aurora County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley Colony, with the one closest to Spring Valley Colony listed first.
    • White Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Lake
      • White Lake is located in Aurora County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 365 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for White Lake <2>
    • Storla
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Storla have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Storla
      • Storla is located in Aurora County
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 6 people
    • Plankinton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Beadle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley Colony, with the one closest to Spring Valley Colony listed first.
    • Virgil
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virgil have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgil
      • Virgil is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Virgil <2>
    • Wessington
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wessington have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wessington
      • Wessington is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wessington <2>
  • Brule County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley Colony, with the one closest to Spring Valley Colony listed first.
    • Lyonville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyonville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyonville
      • Lyonville is located in Brule County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 49 people
    • Kimball
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Pukwana
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pukwana have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pukwana
      • Pukwana is located in Brule County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pukwana <2>
    • Chamberlain
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chamberlain have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamberlain
      • Chamberlain is located in Brule County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,348 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chamberlain <2>
  • Buffalo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley Colony, with the one closest to Spring Valley Colony listed first.
    • Gann Valley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Shelby
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shelby have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelby
      • Shelby is located in Buffalo County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 96 people
    • Crow Creek
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Crow Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Creek
      • Crow Creek is located in Buffalo County
    • Fort Thompson
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Thompson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Thompson
      • Fort Thompson is located in Buffalo County
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 1,282 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fort Thompson <2>
  • Hand County
    • Ames
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ames
      • Ames is located in Hand County
  • Lyman County
    • Oacoma
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oacoma have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oacoma
      • Oacoma is located in Lyman County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 478 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oacoma <2>
  • Sanborn County
    • Woonsocket
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Spring Valley Colony ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Spring Valley 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.

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 Spring Valley Colony covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Spring Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Salem Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Salem Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Salem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hope Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hope Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Zion Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Zion Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ebenezer Baptist Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ebenezer Baptist Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ebenezer Baptist Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Vega Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Vega Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Vega Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Saint Placidus Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Saint Placidus Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Saint Placidus Cemetery is located 20 miles [32.2 km]<5> to the southwest of Fort Thompson.
    • The Saint Placidus Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Saint Placidus Catholic Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2168066 <4>
  • Chery Twp. Pioneer Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chery Twp. Pioneer Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Chery Twp. Pioneer Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • The Chery Twp. Pioneer Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Lillihaug Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2408942 <4>
  • Union Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Prospect Hill Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Crow Creek Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (35 more) ...
    • Viola Valley Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Viola Valley Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Viola Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Earlville Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Earlville Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Earlville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Rosehill Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rosehill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rosehill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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.<6>

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

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

  • Gann Valley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Crow Lake
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Crow Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Lake
    • Crow Lake is located in Jerauld County
  • Lyonville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyonville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyonville
    • Lyonville is located in Brule County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 49 people
  • Wessington Springs
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Crow Creek
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Crow Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Creek
    • Crow Creek is located in Buffalo County
  • Ames
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ames
    • Ames is located in Hand County
  • Kimball
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Sweetland ‑ Historic
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sweetland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetland
    • Sweetland is located in Hand County
  • Pukwana
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pukwana have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pukwana
    • Pukwana is located in Brule County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pukwana <2>
  • White Lake
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Lake
    • White Lake is located in Aurora County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 365 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for White Lake <2>
  • Chamberlain
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chamberlain have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamberlain
    • Chamberlain is located in Brule County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,348 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chamberlain <2>
  • Alpena
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpena have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpena
    • Alpena is located in Jerauld County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alpena <2>
  • Virgil
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virgil have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgil
    • Virgil is located in Beadle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 18 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Virgil <2>
  • Oacoma
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oacoma have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oacoma
    • Oacoma is located in Lyman County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 478 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oacoma <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Spring Valley 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 53 newspapers that have been published in the area around Spring Valley Colony.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Spring Valley Colony, 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 Spring Valley Colony.

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 helpful 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 Spring Valley Colony:

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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.
<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- Spring Valley Colony) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Spring Valley Colony. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.0405, Longitude: -98.8870       In this case, the coordinates for Spring Valley Colony have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Spring Valley Colony, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025