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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 Van Metre (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 Van Metre. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Van Metre is located in Jones 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 Jones County: Haakon, Jackson, Lyman, Mellette & Stanley.

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

  • Jones County     (The home county of Van Metre)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Van Metre, with the one closest to Van Metre listed first.
    • Capa ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capa
      • Capa is located in Jones County
    • Murdo
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Murdo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murdo
      • Murdo is located in Jones County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 459 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Murdo <2>
    • Okaton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Draper
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Draper have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Draper
      • Draper is located in Jones County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 69 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Draper <2>
    • Westover ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westover
      • Westover is located in Jones County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 6 people
  • Haakon County
    • Midland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Hughes County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Van Metre, with the one closest to Van Metre listed first.
    • Oahe
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oahe have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oahe
      • Oahe is located in Hughes County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 474 people
    • Pierre
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pierre have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierre
      • Pierre is located in Hughes County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,708 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pierre <2>
  • Lyman County
    • Vivian
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vivian have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vivian
      • Vivian is located in Lyman County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 149 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vivian <2>
  • Stanley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Van Metre, with the one closest to Van Metre listed first.
    • Teton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Teton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teton
      • Teton is located in Stanley County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 59 people
    • Hayes
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hayes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayes
      • Hayes is located in Stanley County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hayes <2>
    • Lacy
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lacy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacy
      • Lacy is located in Stanley County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 66 people
    • Fort Pierre
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Verendrye Hill
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verendrye Hill
      • Verendrye Hill is located in Stanley County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 5 people

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

Newspapers Published in Van Metre ...

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 55 newspapers that have been published in the area around Van Metre.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Van Metre, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Van Metre.

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 Van Metre:

Cemeteries Near Van Metre ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Van Metre.

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

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

  • Riverview Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverview Cemetery
  • Midland Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Midland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Midland Cemetery
  • Murdo Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Draper Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Draper Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Draper Cemetery
  • Cedar Hill Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cedar Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cedar Hill Cemetery
  • Lone Grave Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lone Grave Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lone Grave Cemetery
  • Scotty Philip Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Nowlin Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nowlin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nowlin Cemetery
  • Barnette Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Barnette Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Barnette Cemetery
  • Sansarc Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sansarc Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sansarc Cemetery
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverside Cemetery
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
  • Mattison Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mattison Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mattison Cemetery

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.<5>

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

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

  • Fort Pierre
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Oahe
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oahe have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oahe
    • Oahe is located in Hughes County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 474 people
  • Nowlin
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nowlin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nowlin
    • Nowlin is located in Haakon County
  • Westover ‑ Historic
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westover
    • Westover is located in Jones County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 6 people

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

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

The official website for State of South Dakota: 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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Van Metre) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Van Metre. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.1594, Longitude: -100.7938       In this case, the coordinates for Van Metre have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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>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 Van Metre, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024