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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 Woonsocket (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 Woonsocket. 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 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 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.

Woonsocket is located in Sanborn County and is the County Seat.

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 Sanborn County: Aurora, Beadle, Davison, Hanson, Jerauld, Kingsbury & Miner.

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

  • Sanborn County     (The home county of Woonsocket)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woonsocket, with the one closest to Woonsocket listed first.
    • Cuthbert
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Forestburg
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Letcher
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Letcher have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Artesian
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Artesian have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artesian
      • Artesian is located in Sanborn County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 134 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Artesian <2>
  • Aurora County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woonsocket, with the one closest to Woonsocket listed first.
    • Storla
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Storla have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
    • Plankinton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Beadle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woonsocket, with the one closest to Woonsocket listed first.
    • Virgil
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virgil have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgil
      • Virgil is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Virgil <2>
    • Huron
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Morningside
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Cavour
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cavour have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cavour
      • Cavour is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cavour <2>
    • Wolsey
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolsey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolsey
      • Wolsey is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 400 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wolsey <2>
    • Yale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Broadland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Davison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woonsocket, with the one closest to Woonsocket listed first.
    • Loomis
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loomis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Mount Vernon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Vernon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • River Bluff Addition
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for River Bluff Addition have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Bluff Addition
      • River Bluff Addition is located in Davison County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 13 people
    • Mitchell
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Hanson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woonsocket, with the one closest to Woonsocket listed first.
    • Farwell
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Farwell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farwell
      • Farwell is located in Hanson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Farwell
      • From Woonsocket to Farwell
    • Plano
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plano have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plano
      • Plano is located in Hanson County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 104 people
  • Jerauld County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woonsocket, with the one closest to Woonsocket listed first.
    • Lane
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lane have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Alpena
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpena have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpena
      • Alpena is located in Jerauld County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alpena <2>
    • Wessington Springs
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Crow Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • 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
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Crow Lake
      • From Woonsocket to Crow Lake
  • Kingsbury County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woonsocket, with the one closest to Woonsocket listed first.
    • Esmond
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Esmond have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esmond
      • Esmond is located in Kingsbury County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 60 people
    • Iroquois
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Miner County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woonsocket, with the one closest to Woonsocket listed first.
    • Fedora
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Carthage
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Roswell
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roswell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roswell
      • Roswell is located in Miner County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 70 people

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

Cemeteries Near Woonsocket ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Woonsocket.

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

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

  • Eventide Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eventide Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Eventide Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Wilfrid Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Wilfrid Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Wilfrid Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Feistner Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Silver Creek Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Silver Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Silver Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethany - Silver Creek Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethany - Silver Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethany - Silver Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • German Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the German Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the German Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Rest Haven Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rest Haven Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rest Haven Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Solberg Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Solberg Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Solberg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Aquilla Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Aquilla Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Aquilla Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Charity Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Viola Valley Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Viola Valley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Viola Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (53 more) ...
    • West Lawn Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Lawn Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Lawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Bonny Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bonny Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bonny Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Zion Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 Woonsocket had a population of 687 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Woonsocket had a population of 639 people.

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

  • Forestburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Alpena
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpena have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpena
    • Alpena is located in Jerauld County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alpena <2>
  • Letcher
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Letcher have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Wessington Springs
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Artesian
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Artesian have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artesian
    • Artesian is located in Sanborn County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 134 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Artesian <2>
  • Virgil
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virgil have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgil
    • Virgil is located in Beadle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 18 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Virgil <2>
  • Huron
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
  • Farwell
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Farwell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farwell
    • Farwell is located in Hanson County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Farwell
    • From Woonsocket to Farwell
  • James Valley Junction
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for James Valley Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for James Valley Junction
    • James Valley Junction is located in Beadle County
  • Mount Vernon
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Vernon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Crow Lake
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • 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
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Crow Lake
    • From Woonsocket to Crow Lake
  • Cavour
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cavour have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cavour
    • Cavour is located in Beadle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cavour <2>
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Woonsocket ...

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 76 newspapers that have been published in the area around Woonsocket.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Woonsocket. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Woonsocket and those printed in the larger area surrounding Woonsocket.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Woonsocket.

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 Woonsocket:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Woonsocket. 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- Woonsocket) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Woonsocket. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.0540, Longitude: -98.2724    
<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 Woonsocket, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025