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 Morgantown (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 Morgantown. 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 southeast 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 south.
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 south 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.
Morgantown is located in Morgan County.
To see how the shape of Indiana's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Morgan County: Brown, Hendricks, Johnson, Marion, Monroe, Owen & Putnam.
Below are the counties that are near Morgantown. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Morgantown:
- Morgan County (The home county of Morgantown)
- The following are listed by their distance from Morgantown, with the one closest to Morgantown listed first.
- Mahalasville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Mahalasville is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mahalasville
- Taggart Crossing ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Taggart Crossing is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taggart Crossing
- Martinsville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Waverly
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Waverly is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverly
- Bethany
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Bethany is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethany
- Population from the 2020 Census: 88 people
- Red House ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Red House is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red House
- Brooklyn
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Brookmoor
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Brookmoor is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookmoor
- Wilbur
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Wilbur is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilbur
- Young
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Young is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Young
- Lake Hart
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Lake Hart is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Hart
- Paragon
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Bartholomew County
- The following are listed by their distance from Morgantown, with the one closest to Morgantown listed first.
- Pleasant View Village
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Pleasant View Village is located in Bartholomew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View Village
- Stony Lonesome
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Stony Lonesome is located in Bartholomew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Lonesome
- Taylorsville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Corn Brook
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Corn Brook is located in Bartholomew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corn Brook
- Clifford
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Clifford is located in Bartholomew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 252 people
- Columbus
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Garden City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Garden City is located in Bartholomew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- North Ogilville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- North Ogilville is located in Bartholomew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Ogilville
- Bethel Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Bethel Village is located in Bartholomew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel Village
- Jewell Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Jewell Village is located in Bartholomew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jewell Village
- Petersville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Petersville is located in Bartholomew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersville
- Hope
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Hope is located in Bartholomew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,248 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hope <1>
- Brown County
- The following are listed by their distance from Morgantown, with the one closest to Morgantown listed first.
- Spearsville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Spearsville is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spearsville
- Beanblossom
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Beanblossom is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beanblossom
- Beanblossom has also been known as:
- Bean Blossom
- Helmsburg
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Helmsburg is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helmsburg
- Nashville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Gnaw Bone
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Liberty
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Liberty is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Liberty
- Pikes Peak
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Pikes Peak is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pikes Peak
- Story
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Story is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Story
- Becks Grove
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Becks Grove is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Becks Grove
- Greene County
- Hendricksville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Hendricksville is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hendricksville
- Hendricks County
- The following are listed by their distance from Morgantown, with the one closest to Morgantown listed first.
- Hazelwood
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Hazelwood is located in Hendricks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazelwood
- Plainfield
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Cartersburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Clayton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Avon
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Avon is located in Hendricks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 19,361 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Avon <1>
- Stilesville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Amo
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Coatesville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Danville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Hadley
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Hadley is located in Hendricks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hadley
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Morgantown, with the one closest to Morgantown listed first.
- Houston
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Houston is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston
- Spraytown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Spraytown is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spraytown
- Freetown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Kurtz
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Kurtz is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kurtz
- Norman
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Johnson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Morgantown, with the one closest to Morgantown listed first.
- Samaria
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Samaria is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samaria
- Anita ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Anita is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anita
- Peoga
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Peoga is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peoga
- Trafalgar
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Princes Lakes
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Princes Lakes is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Princes Lakes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,342 people
- Nineveh
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Providence
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Providence is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Banta
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Banta is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banta
- Bargersville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Bluff Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Bluff Creek is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff Creek
- Franklin
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Amity
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Amity is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amity
- Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from Morgantown, with the one closest to Morgantown listed first.
- Zelma
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Zelma is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zelma
- Guthrie
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Guthrie is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guthrie
- Marion County
- The following are listed by their distance from Morgantown, with the one closest to Morgantown listed first.
- West Newton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- West Newton is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Newton
- Camby
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Homecroft
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Homecroft is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homecroft
- Population from the 2020 Census: 764 people
- Southport
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Acton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Acton is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acton
- Beech Grove
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Charlesmac Village
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Charlesmac Village is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlesmac Village
- Indianapolis
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Speedway
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Clermont
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Warren Park
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Warren Park is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,574 people
- Monroe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Morgantown, with the one closest to Morgantown listed first.
- Unionville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Dolan
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Dolan is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dolan
- Bloomington
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Ellettsville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Stinesville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Stinesville is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stinesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 217 people
- Highland Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Highland Village is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Village
- Clear Creek
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Clear Creek is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Creek
- Smithville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Harrodsburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Harrodsburg is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrodsburg
- Kirksville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Kirksville is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirksville
- Stanford
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Stanford is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanford
- Owen County
- The following are listed by their distance from Morgantown, with the one closest to Morgantown listed first.
- Gosport
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Quincy
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Quincy is located in Owen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quincy
- Spencer
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Cuba
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Cuba is located in Owen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba
- Putnam County
- The following are listed by their distance from Morgantown, with the one closest to Morgantown listed first.
- Belle Union
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Belle Union is located in Putnam County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Union
- Cloverdale
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Shelby County
- The following are listed by their distance from Morgantown, with the one closest to Morgantown listed first.
- Mount Auburn
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Mount Auburn is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Auburn
- Flat Rock
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Boggstown
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Brookfield
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Brookfield is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield
- Fairland
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- London
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- London is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for London
- Norristown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Norristown is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norristown
- Clover Village
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Clover Village is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Village
- Riley Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Riley Village is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riley Village
- Beech Brook
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Beech Brook is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Brook
- Candleglo Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Candleglo Village is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Candleglo Village
- Hildebrand Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Hildebrand Village is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hildebrand Village
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Morgantown, see our County-by-County Page for Morgantown.
Cemeteries Near Morgantown ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Morgantown.
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 Morgantown - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Morgantown covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Morgantown, with the one closest to Morgantown listed first.
- Boles - Williams Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Gerholt Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Nast Chapel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Calvin Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Thompson Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Duncan Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Shiloh Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Scroggins Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Nebo Memorial Park Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Taylor Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Flake Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Georgetown Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Continue List (361 more) ...
- Dollings Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Brian Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Zion Church Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 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.<3>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Morgantown had a population of 608 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Morgantown had a population of 992 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Morgantown, with the one closest to Morgantown listed first.
- Spearsville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Spearsville is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spearsville
- Samaria
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Samaria is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samaria
- Chetwynd
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Chetwynd is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chetwynd
- Mahalasville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Mahalasville is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mahalasville
- Trafalgar
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Bud
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Bud is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bud
- Cope
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cope is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cope
- Beanblossom
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Beanblossom is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beanblossom
- Beanblossom has also been known as:
- Bean Blossom
- Needmore
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Needmore is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needmore
- Exchange
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Exchange is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exchange
- Nineveh
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Providence
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Providence is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Martinsville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Fleener
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Fleener is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fleener
- Banta
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Banta is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banta
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Morgantown. See our List of 1890's Communities around Morgantown.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Morgantown ...
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 75 newspapers that have been published in the area around Morgantown.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Morgantown. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Morgantown and those printed in the larger area surrounding Morgantown.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 18 miles [29 km]<4> of Morgantown.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Morgantown:
- Websites specific to Indiana
- Pages specific to Morgan County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bartholomew County
- Brown County
- Greene County
- Hendricks County
- Jackson County
- Johnson County
- Lawrence County
- Marion County
- Monroe County
- Owen County
- Putnam County
- Shelby County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Indiana
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> | 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 Morgantown, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Morgantown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |