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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 Winfred (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 Winfred. 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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Winfred is located in Lake 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 Lake County: Brookings, Kingsbury, McCook, Miner, Minnehaha & Moody.

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

  • Lake County     (The home county of Winfred)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winfred, with the one closest to Winfred listed first.
    • Junius
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Junius is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junius
    • Prairie Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Prairie Village is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Village
      • Estimated population in 2014: 18 people
    • Ramona
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Madison
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Franklin
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Franklin is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
      • Estimated population in 2014: 333 people
    • Peninsula Park
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Peninsula Park is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peninsula Park
      • Estimated population in 2014: 32 people
    • Wentworth
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Prairie Queen ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Prairie Queen is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Queen
    • Rutland
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Nunda
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Brant Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Brant Lake is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brant Lake
    • Chester
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
  • Brookings County
    • Sinai
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Sinai is located in Brookings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sinai
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 125 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sinai <1>
  • Hanson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winfred, with the one closest to Winfred listed first.
    • Epiphany
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Epiphany is located in Hanson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Epiphany
      • Estimated population in 2014: 103 people
    • Farmer
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Farmer is located in Hanson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11 people
    • Fulton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Farwell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Farwell is located in Hanson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farwell
    • Emery
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Plano
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Plano is located in Hanson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plano
      • Estimated population in 2014: 104 people
  • Kingsbury County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winfred, with the one closest to Winfred listed first.
    • Oldham
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Lake Preston
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Hetland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Arlington
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Esmond
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Esmond is located in Kingsbury County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esmond
      • Estimated population in 2014: 60 people
    • De Smet
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • McCook County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winfred, with the one closest to Winfred listed first.
    • Unityville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Unityville is located in McCook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unityville
      • Estimated population in 2014: 52 people
    • Salem
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Salem
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Salem is located in McCook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem
    • Spencer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Montrose
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Canistota
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Miner County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winfred, with the one closest to Winfred listed first.
    • Howard
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Canova
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Vilas
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Vilas is located in Miner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vilas
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19 people
    • Roswell
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Roswell is located in Miner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roswell
      • Estimated population in 2014: 70 people
    • Carthage
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Fedora
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Minnehaha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winfred, with the one closest to Winfred listed first.
    • Huntimer
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Huntimer is located in Minnehaha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntimer
      • Estimated population in 2014: 590 people
    • Colton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Humboldt
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Moody County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Winfred, with the one closest to Winfred listed first.
    • Dyce ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Dyce is located in Moody County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyce
    • Colman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Sanborn County
    • Artesian
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Winfred ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Winfred.

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 Winfred - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Winfred covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Winfred Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • St. Johns Lutheran Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Graceland Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Canova Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Belleview Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Sun Prairie Baptist Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Salem Lutheran Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem Lutheran Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Salem Lutheran Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 7 miles [11.3 km]<3> to the north of Salem.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #97665 <2>
  • St. Thomas Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Olsen Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Ramsey Baptist Church Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramsey Baptist Church Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Ramsey Baptist Church Cemetery is located 9 miles [14.5 km]<3> to the north of Montrose.
    • The Ramsey Baptist Church Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Ramsey Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #97431 <2>
  • Continue List   (91 more) ...
    • Ramsey Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Ramsey Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Pioneer Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)

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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Winfred had a population of 225 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2014, Winfred had a population of 162 people.

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

  • Howard
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Canova
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Orland ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Orland is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orland
  • Ramona
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Vilas
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Vilas is located in Miner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vilas
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 19 people
  • Madison
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Franklin
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Franklin is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
    • Estimated population in 2014: 333 people
  • Oldham
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Roswell
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Roswell is located in Miner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roswell
    • Estimated population in 2014: 70 people
  • Salem
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Wentworth
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Prairie Queen ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Prairie Queen is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Queen
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Spencer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Carthage
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Montrose
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Winfred ...

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 Winfred.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Winfred, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Winfred.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Winfred:

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>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- Winfred) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 Winfred, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.