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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 Smelter Heights (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 Smelter Heights. 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 Smelter Heights ...

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 Smelter Heights: Smelter Hts. (in Canada, 'Hgts.' is the more common abbreviation.)

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Smelter Heights is located in Shoshone County.

To see how the shape of Idaho's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Shoshone County: Benewah, Bonner, Clearwater, Kootenai, Latah, Mineral (MT) & Sanders (MT).

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

  • Shoshone County     (The home county of Smelter Heights)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smelter Heights, with the one closest to Smelter Heights listed first.
    • Kellogg
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kellogg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellogg
      • Kellogg is located in Shoshone County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,130 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kellogg <2>
    • Sweeney
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweeney
      • Sweeney is located in Shoshone County
    • Wardner
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Smelterville
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Pinehurst
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pinehurst have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinehurst
      • Pinehurst is located in Shoshone County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,620 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pinehurst <2>
    • Kingston
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Osburn
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Silverton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silverton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silverton
      • Silverton is located in Shoshone County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silverton <2>
    • Wallace
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Carbon Center
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon Center
      • Carbon Center is located in Shoshone County
    • Woodland Park
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Park
      • Woodland Park is located in Shoshone County
    • Frisco
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frisco have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frisco
      • Frisco is located in Shoshone County
    • Burke ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burke have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burke
      • Burke is located in Shoshone County
  • Benewah County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smelter Heights, with the one closest to Smelter Heights listed first.
    • Saint Maries
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Maries have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Maries
      • Saint Maries is located in Benewah County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,465 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Maries <2>
    • Parkline
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parkline have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkline
      • Parkline is located in Benewah County
    • Santa
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Chatcolet
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatcolet
      • Chatcolet is located in Benewah County
  • Kootenai County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smelter Heights, with the one closest to Smelter Heights listed first.
    • Cataldo
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Canyon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canyon
      • Canyon is located in Kootenai County
    • Rose Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Lake
      • Rose Lake is located in Kootenai County
    • Lane
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane
      • Lane is located in Kootenai County
    • Medimont
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Medimont have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medimont
      • Medimont is located in Kootenai County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Medimont <2>
    • Fernan Lake Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fernan Lake Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fernan Lake Village
      • Fernan Lake Village is located in Kootenai County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 174 people
    • Conkling Park
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conkling Park
      • Conkling Park is located in Kootenai County
    • Harrison
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harrison have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrison
      • Harrison is located in Kootenai County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harrison <2>
  • Mineral County (MT)
    • East Portal ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Portal
      • East Portal is located in Mineral County (MT)

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

Newspapers Published in Smelter Heights ...

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 44 newspapers that have been published in the area around Smelter Heights.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Smelter Heights, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Smelter Heights.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Smelter Heights:

Cemeteries Near Smelter Heights ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Smelter Heights.

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

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

  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Shoshone Memorial Gardens
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shoshone Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shoshone Memorial Gardens
  • Old Mission Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Mission Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Mission Cemetery
  • Miners Union Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Miners Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Miners Union Cemetery
  • United Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the United Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the United Cemetery
  • Rose Lake Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rose Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rose Lake Cemetery
  • Murray Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Murray Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Murray Cemetery
  • Lane Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lane Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lane Cemetery
  • Medimont Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Medimont Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Medimont Cemetery
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Dominion Peak Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Dominion Peak Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dominion Peak Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2420831 <4>
  • St. Thomas Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)

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>

While we didn't find Smelter Heights in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Smelter Heights.

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

  • Kellogg
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kellogg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellogg
    • Kellogg is located in Shoshone County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,130 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kellogg <2>
  • Wardner
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Enaville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Enaville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enaville
    • Enaville is located in Shoshone County
  • Kingston
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Osburn
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Cataldo
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Wallace
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Delta
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Delta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta
    • Delta is located in Shoshone County
  • Eagle
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle
    • Eagle is located in Shoshone County
  • Frisco
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frisco have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frisco
    • Frisco is located in Shoshone County
  • Burke ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burke have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burke
    • Burke is located in Shoshone County
  • Murray
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Murray have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murray
    • Murray is located in Shoshone County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Murray <2>
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Mullan
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mullan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mullan
      • Mullan is located in Shoshone County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 691 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mullan <2>
    • Lane
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane
      • Lane is located in Kootenai County
    • Saint Maries
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Maries have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Maries
      • Saint Maries is located in Benewah County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,465 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Maries <2>

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Smelter Heights. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Idaho: www.state.id.us/

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Smelter Heights) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Smelter Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.5391, Longitude: -116.1596       In this case, the coordinates for Smelter Heights have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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>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.
<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 Smelter Heights, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024