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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 Vale (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 Vale. 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 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.

Vale is located in Butte 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 Butte County: Carter (MT), Harding, Lawrence, Meade, Perkins & Crook (WY).

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

  • Butte County     (The home county of Vale)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Vale, with the one closest to Vale listed first.
    • Newell
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newell
      • Newell is located in Butte County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 603 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newell <2>
    • Nisland
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nisland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nisland
      • Nisland is located in Butte County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 227 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nisland <2>
    • Fruitdale
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fruitdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitdale
      • Fruitdale is located in Butte County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 68 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fruitdale <2>
    • Belle Fourche
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belle Fourche have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Fourche
      • Belle Fourche is located in Butte County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,742 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Belle Fourche <2>
    • Castle Rock
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Castle Rock. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Rock
      • Castle Rock is located in Butte County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Castle Rock
      • From Vale to Castle Rock
  • Lawrence County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Vale, with the one closest to Vale listed first.
    • Whitewood
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Crook City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Saint Onge
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Centennial City ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centennial City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centennial City
      • Centennial City is located in Lawrence County
    • Galena
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Deadwood
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Spearfish
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spearfish have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spearfish
      • Spearfish is located in Lawrence County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,900 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spearfish <2>
    • Lancaster City ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lancaster City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster City
      • Lancaster City is located in Lawrence County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 419 people
    • Central City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Lead
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lead. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lead
      • Lead is located in Lawrence County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,947 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lead <2>
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lead
      • From Vale to Lead
    • North Spearfish
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Spearfish have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Spearfish
      • North Spearfish is located in Lawrence County
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 2,221 people
    • Carbonate ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Carbonate. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbonate
      • Carbonate is located in Lawrence County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Carbonate
      • From Vale to Carbonate
  • Meade County

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

Cemeteries Near Vale ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Vale.

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

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

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Vale had a population of 16 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2014, Vale had a population of 121 people.

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

  • Empire
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Empire have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire
    • Empire is located in Butte County
  • Snoma ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Snoma have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snoma
    • Snoma is located in Butte County
  • Whitewood
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Sturgis
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Saint Onge
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Crook City
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Galena
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Tilford
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tilford. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilford
    • Tilford is located in Meade County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Tilford
    • From Vale to Tilford
  • Belle Fourche
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belle Fourche have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Fourche
    • Belle Fourche is located in Butte County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,742 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Belle Fourche <2>
  • Spearfish
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spearfish have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spearfish
    • Spearfish is located in Lawrence County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,900 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spearfish <2>
  • Deadwood
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
  • Pluma
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pluma have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pluma
    • Pluma is located in Lawrence County
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Central City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Terraville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Terraville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terraville
      • Terraville is located in Lawrence County
    • Lead
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lead. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lead
      • Lead is located in Lawrence County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,947 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lead <2>
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lead
      • From Vale to Lead

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

Newspapers Published in Vale ...

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 65 newspapers that have been published in the area around Vale.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Vale, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Vale.

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 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 Vale:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Vale. 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>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Vale) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Vale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.6204, Longitude: -103.4026    
<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>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 Vale, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025