2021 Map of Bowdle-Hosmer Lake

About this map

Bowdle-Hosmer Lake sits at the heart of this prairie landscape, where the borders of McPherson, Edmunds, Walworth, and Campbell counties converge. The map documents a sparsely settled agricultural region defined by a precise section-line road grid, including Co Hwy 16 and Co Rd 4. Genealogists will find significant value in the distribution of rural burial sites that mark the era's community centers, such as Saint Joseph Catholic Cem and the Saint John's Cem - Johannes Gemeinde Lutheran Cem. These small cemeteries, often associated with specific religious congregations like the Johannes Gemeinde Lutheran community, provide a footprint of the ethnic and denominational settlements that organized the South Dakota plains during the early 20th century.