A very active Scandinavian community began forming in the late 1800's in the area of Viborg South Dakota, including Swan Lake and Spring Valley.  By 1890 there were Scandinavian Baptist and Lutheran churches throughout these community areas, and families from Denmark and Norway were arriving to take residency in this area.  Most of these folks stayed close together and their lives focused around their churches and related activities.  Each church had a cemetery that was an important part of their heritage.

The Bang church had its beginnings in 1887 with meetings in local homes.  In 1892 land was donated by Daniel B Hill for a church building with an adjacent cemetery.  The church and cemetery were dedicated in 1894.  Eight years later in 1902 a storm destroyed the building and it was replaced but in 1915 lightning caused that building to burn so a third building was built that endured until taken down in 1971.  The Bang Norwegian Lutheran Church joined with the Elim and Bethlehem churches to form Our Redeemer Luitheran Church a few miles southwest in Yankton County.  The cemetery was  incorporated in 1970 with a board of trustees and continues to serve current and former members of the community.

The Bang Cemetery information database consists of 3 parts.

This information was prepared by Ken Tiahrt in 2011.

1.  A Cemetery Map

An aerial view of the cemetery showing the cemetery in relationship to the adjacent Turner County Roadway, 443 Avenue, gives the user a physical setting.   Very specific locations for a given burial plot can not be found using this information source.

2.  A List of Burials

A listing of the burials at Bang Cemetery – Section 21 – Salem Township – Turner County, gives the individual names in alphabetic order.  This listing also gives the date of birth and date of death when available. 

Photos of Grave Monuments
**UPDATE NOTE - October 2018 -- The cemetery list does not contain any tombstone photographs. Thankyou for understanding. Anyone wanting to donate personal tombstone pics is encouraged to do so on the following dedicated site for that purpose: South Dakota Gravestones Project.