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 Vestal Springs (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 Vestal Springs. 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 Vestal Springs ...
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 Vestal Springs: Vestal Spgs. (or less commonly used: Vestal Spngs. or Vestal Sprngs.)
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 southeast 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 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.
Vestal Springs is located in Custer 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 Custer County: Fall River, Oglala Lakota, Pennington, Niobrara (WY) & Weston (WY).
Below are the counties that are near Vestal Springs. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Vestal Springs:
- Custer County (The home county of Vestal Springs)
- The following are listed by their distance from Vestal Springs, with the one closest to Vestal Springs listed first.
- Berne
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Berne is located in Custer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berne
- Fourmile
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Fourmile is located in Custer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fourmile
- Estimated population in 2014: 70 people
- Custer
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Sanator
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Sanator is located in Custer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanator
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,350 people
- Spokane ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Spokane is located in Custer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spokane
- Estimated population in 2014: 3,237 people
- State Game Lodge
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- State Game Lodge is located in Custer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Game Lodge
- Estimated population in 2014: 29 people
- Pringle
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Hermosa
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Ivanhoe ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Ivanhoe is located in Custer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
- Estimated population in 2014: 144 people
- Fairburn
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Dewey
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Dewey is located in Custer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewey
- Buffalo Gap
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Fall River County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vestal Springs, with the one closest to Vestal Springs listed first.
- Erskine
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Erskine is located in Fall River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erskine
- Hot Springs
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vestal Springs, with the one closest to Vestal Springs listed first.
- Diamond City ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Diamond City is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond City
- Merritt
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Merritt is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merritt
- Estimated population in 2014: 175 people
- Gregory ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Gregory is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,264 people
- Nahant
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Nahant is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nahant
- Nemo
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Greenwood
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Greenwood is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
- Greenwood has also been known as:
- Laflin
- Tomahawk
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Tomahawk is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomahawk
- Estimated population in 2014: 36 people
- Dumont
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Dumont is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumont
- Estimated population in 2014: 45 people
- Roubaix
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Roubaix is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roubaix
- Estimated population in 2013: 14 people
- Meade County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vestal Springs, with the one closest to Vestal Springs listed first.
- Blackhawk
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Summerset
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Pennington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vestal Springs, with the one closest to Vestal Springs listed first.
- Hill City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Redfern
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Redfern is located in Pennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redfern
- Keystone
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Sheridan ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Sheridan is located in Pennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan
- Estimated population in 2014: 447 people
- Frenchtown ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Frenchtown is located in Pennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchtown
- Estimated population in 2014: 276 people
- Harney
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Harney is located in Pennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harney
- Estimated population in 2014: 64 people
- Hayward ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Hayward is located in Pennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayward
- Mystic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Mystic is located in Pennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mystic
- Canyon City ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Canyon City is located in Pennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canyon City
- Fairview ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Fairview is located in Pennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
- Estimated population in 2014: 65 people
- Silver City
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Silver City is located in Pennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
- Estimated population in 2014: 60 people
- Rockerville
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Weston County (WY)
- The following are listed by their distance from Vestal Springs, with the one closest to Vestal Springs listed first.
- Hill View Heights
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Hill View Heights is located in Weston County (WY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill View Heights
- Spencer ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Spencer is located in Weston County (WY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spencer
- Clifton ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Clifton is located in Weston County (WY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton
- Newcastle
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Cambria ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Cambria is located in Weston County (WY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambria
- Four Corners
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Vestal Springs, see our County-by-County Page for Vestal Springs.
Cemeteries Near Vestal Springs ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Vestal Springs.
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 Vestal Springs - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Vestal Springs covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Vestal Springs, with the one closest to Vestal Springs listed first.
- Custer Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Mountain View Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mountain View Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the south of Keystone.
- The Mountain View Cemetery has also been known as:
- Keystone Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #97167 <2>
- Pringle Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Rockerville Cemetery
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Rochford Cemetery
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Mountain Meadow Cemetery
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Fairburn Cemetery
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Pine Lawn Memorial Park
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Mountain View Cemetery
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mountain View Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Rapid City.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #97276 <2>
- Mt. Calvary Cemetery
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Boyd Cemetery
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (7 more) ...
- Cambria Cemetery
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Hot Springs National Cemetery
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
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.<3>
While we didn't find Vestal Springs in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Vestal Springs.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Vestal Springs, with the one closest to Vestal Springs listed first.
- Berne
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Berne is located in Custer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berne
- Oreville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Oreville is located in Pennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oreville
- Custer
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Hill City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Redfern
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Redfern is located in Pennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redfern
- Sheridan ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Sheridan is located in Pennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan
- Estimated population in 2014: 447 people
- Pringle
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Spokane ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Spokane is located in Custer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spokane
- Estimated population in 2014: 3,237 people
- Hayward ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Hayward is located in Pennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayward
- Mystic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Mystic is located in Pennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mystic
- Rockerville
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Silver City
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Silver City is located in Pennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
- Estimated population in 2014: 60 people
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Pactola ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Pactola is located in Pennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pactola
- Argyle
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Argyle is located in Custer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
- Rochford
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Vestal Springs. See our List of 1890's Communities around Vestal Springs.
Newspapers Published in Vestal Springs ...
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 56 newspapers that have been published in the area around Vestal Springs.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Vestal Springs, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Vestal Springs.
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 Vestal Springs:
- Websites specific to South Dakota
- Pages specific to Custer County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Fall River County
- Lawrence County
- Meade County
- Pennington County
- Weston County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for South Dakota
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> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Vestal Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Vestal Springs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |