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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 White Lake (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 White Lake. 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 White Lake ...

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 White Lake: White Lk.

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 doctors and 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.

White Lake is located in Aurora 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 Aurora County: Brule, Charles Mix, Davison, Douglas, Jerauld & Sanborn.

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

  • Aurora County     (The home county of White Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from White Lake, with the one closest to White Lake listed first.
    • Plankinton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Aurora Center
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aurora Center have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora Center
      • Aurora Center is located in Aurora County
    • Stickney
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stickney have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stickney
      • Stickney is located in Aurora County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 267 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stickney <1>
    • Storla
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Storla have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
  • Brule County
    • The following are listed by their distance from White Lake, with the one closest to White Lake listed first.
    • Kimball
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Lyonville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyonville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
    • Eagle
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle
      • Eagle is located in Brule County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 17 people
    • Pukwana
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pukwana have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
    • Bijou Hills
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bijou Hills. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bijou Hills
      • Bijou Hills is located in Brule County
    • Ola
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ola. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ola
      • Ola is located in Brule County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 108 people
    • Chamberlain
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chamberlain have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
  • Buffalo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from White Lake, with the one closest to White Lake listed first.
    • Gann Valley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Shelby
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shelby have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Creek
      • Crow Creek is located in Buffalo County
  • Charles Mix County
    • The following are listed by their distance from White Lake, with the one closest to White Lake listed first.
    • Platte
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platte
      • Platte is located in Charles Mix County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,257 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Platte <1>
    • Academy
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Academy
      • Academy is located in Charles Mix County
    • Platte Colony
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Platte Colony have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platte Colony
      • Platte Colony is located in Charles Mix County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 51 people
  • Davison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from White Lake, with the one closest to White Lake listed first.
    • Mount Vernon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Vernon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vernon
      • Mount Vernon is located in Davison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 438 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Vernon <1>
    • Loomis
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loomis have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loomis
      • Loomis is located in Davison County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Loomis <1>
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from White Lake, with the one closest to White Lake listed first.
    • Joubert
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joubert
      • Joubert is located in Douglas County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 126 people
    • New Holland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Harrison
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harrison have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrison
      • Harrison is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harrison <1>
    • Corsica
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Corsica have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corsica
      • Corsica is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 569 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Corsica <1>
    • Hillside
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillside have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside
      • Hillside is located in Douglas County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 31 people
  • Jerauld County
    • The following are listed by their distance from White Lake, with the one closest to White Lake listed first.
    • Crow Lake
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Lake
      • Crow Lake is located in Jerauld County
    • Wessington Springs
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Lane
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lane have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
  • Sanborn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from White Lake, with the one closest to White Lake listed first.
    • Cuthbert
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuthbert
      • Cuthbert is located in Sanborn County
    • Letcher
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Letcher have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Letcher
      • Letcher is located in Sanborn County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 176 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Letcher <1>

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

Cemeteries Near White Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of White Lake.

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

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

  • Trinity Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trinity Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trinity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Crystal Lake Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crystal Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crystal Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Johns Lutheran Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bullis Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bullis Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bullis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Plankinton Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • St. Margarets Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Margarets Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Margarets Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Larson Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Larson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Larson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gabrielson Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gabrielson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gabrielson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Quaker Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Quaker Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Quaker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Paul Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Paul Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Paul Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pleasant Grove Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Grove Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Pleasant Grove Cemetery is located 14 miles [22.5 km]<5> to the north of Kimball.
    • The Pleasant Grove Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Miller Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #97389 <4>
  • Continue List   (60 more) ...
    • Old St. Paul Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old St. Paul Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old St. Paul Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Dudley Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dudley Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dudley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Aurora Center Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Aurora Center Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Aurora Center Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that White Lake had a population of 366 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, White Lake had a population of 365 people.

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

  • Plankinton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Kimball
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Crow Lake
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • 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.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Lake
    • Crow Lake is located in Jerauld County
  • Lyonville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyonville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
  • Joubert
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joubert
    • Joubert is located in Douglas County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 126 people
  • Eagle
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle
    • Eagle is located in Brule County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 17 people
  • New Holland
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Harrison
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harrison have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrison
    • Harrison is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harrison <1>
  • Mount Vernon
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Vernon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vernon
    • Mount Vernon is located in Davison County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 438 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Vernon <1>
  • Pukwana
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pukwana have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
  • Platte
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platte
    • Platte is located in Charles Mix County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,257 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Platte <1>
  • Gann Valley
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Wessington Springs
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Ola
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ola. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ola
      • Ola is located in Brule County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 108 people
    • Bijou Hills
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bijou Hills. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bijou Hills
      • Bijou Hills is located in Brule County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of White Lake ...

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 57 newspapers that have been published in the area around White Lake.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of White Lake. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of White Lake and those printed in the larger area surrounding White Lake.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5> of White Lake.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 White Lake:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for White Lake. 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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.
<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>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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- White Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in White Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.7283, Longitude: -98.7134       In this case, the coordinates for White Lake 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 White Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025