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 Bethlehem (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 Bethlehem. 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 southwest 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 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 west 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.
Bethlehem is located in McDonald County.
To see how the shape of Missouri's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of McDonald County: Benton (AR), Barry, Newton, Delaware (OK) & Ottawa (OK).
Below are the counties that are near Bethlehem. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bethlehem:
- McDonald County (The home county of Bethlehem)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethlehem, with the one closest to Bethlehem listed first.
- Rocky Comfort
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Rocky Comfort is located in McDonald County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Comfort
- Powell
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Powell is located in McDonald County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell
- Wylie
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Wylie is located in McDonald County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wylie
- Erie
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Erie is located in McDonald County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
- Jane
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Goodman
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Pineville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Anderson
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Lanagan
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Ginger Blue
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Ginger Blue is located in McDonald County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ginger Blue
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
- May
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- May is located in McDonald County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May
- Noel
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Tiff City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Tiff City is located in McDonald County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiff City
- Barry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethlehem, with the one closest to Bethlehem listed first.
- Wheaton
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Ridgley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Ridgley is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgley
- Pioneer
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Pioneer is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
- Exeter
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Butterfield
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Butterfield is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butterfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 470 people
- Washburn
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Purdy
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Cassville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Thompsons Corner
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Thompsons Corner is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompsons Corner
- Star City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Star City is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star City
- Seligman
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Seligman is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seligman
- Population from the 2020 Census: 835 people
- Monett
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Tom Town ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Tom Town is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tom Town
- Jasper County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethlehem, with the one closest to Bethlehem listed first.
- Motley
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Motley is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Motley
- Sarcoxie
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Parshley
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Parshley is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parshley
- Fidelity
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Fidelity is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fidelity
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
- Reeds
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Reeds is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds
- Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
- La Russell
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- La Russell is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Russell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 117 people
- Duenweg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Rex City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Rex City is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rex City
- Duquesne
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Duquesne is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duquesne
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,689 people
- Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethlehem, with the one closest to Bethlehem listed first.
- Pierce City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Freistatt
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Freistatt is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freistatt
- Population from the 2020 Census: 160 people
- Verona
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Verona is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verona
- Population from the 2020 Census: 606 people
- Stotts City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Stotts City is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stotts City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
- Aurora
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Hoberg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Hoberg is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoberg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 57 people
- Newton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethlehem, with the one closest to Bethlehem listed first.
- Stella
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Fairview
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Boulder City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Boulder City is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder City
- Stark City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Newtonia
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Ritchey
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Ritchey is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ritchey
- Population from the 2020 Census: 81 people
- Granby
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Neosho
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Granby City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Granby City is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granby City
- Park
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Park is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park
- Wentworth
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Wentworth is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wentworth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 145 people
- Talmage City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Talmage City is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talmage City
- Diamond
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Diamond is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond
- Population from the 2020 Census: 909 people
- Former names for Diamond:
- Diamond Grove
- Diamond Mill
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Diamond <1>
- Benton County (AR)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethlehem, with the one closest to Bethlehem listed first.
- Bella Vista
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Pea Ridge
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Gateway
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Clantonville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Clantonville is located in Benton County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clantonville
- Garfield
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Brightwater
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Brightwater is located in Benton County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brightwater
- Avoca
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Avoca is located in Benton County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
- Population from the 2020 Census: 522 people
- Hiwasse
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Hiwasse is located in Benton County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hiwasse
- Little Flock
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Little Flock is located in Benton County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Flock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,812 people
- Bentonville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Sulphur Springs
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Puckett ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Puckett is located in Benton County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puckett
- Centerton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Carroll County (AR)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethlehem, with the one closest to Bethlehem listed first.
- Beaver
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Holiday Island
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Gaskins ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Gaskins is located in Carroll County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaskins
- Mundell ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Mundell is located in Carroll County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mundell
- Eureka Springs
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Delaware County (OK)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethlehem, with the one closest to Bethlehem listed first.
- Cayuga
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Cayuga is located in Delaware County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cayuga
- Dodge
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Dodge is located in Delaware County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodge
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Bethlehem, see our County-by-County Page for Bethlehem.
Cemeteries Near Bethlehem ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bethlehem.
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 Bethlehem - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Bethlehem covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bethlehem, with the one closest to Bethlehem listed first.
- Roseberry Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Simco Love Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simco Love Cemetery
- The Simco Love Cemetery has also been known as:
- Love Cemetery
- Rocky Comfort Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Comfort Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Rocky Comfort Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Rocky Comfort.
- The Rocky Comfort Cemetery has also been known as:
- Prosperity Southern Baptist Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1960026 <2>
- Spring Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Creason Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Chitwood Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Culp Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Jones Chapel Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Macedonia Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Muncie Chapel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Robertson Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Edmonds Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmonds Cemetery
- The Edmonds Cemetery has also been known as:
- Carter Cemetery
- Continue List (266 more) ...
- Shannon Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Concord Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Weems Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
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>
While we didn't find Bethlehem in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bethlehem.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Bethlehem, with the one closest to Bethlehem listed first.
- Rocky Comfort
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Rocky Comfort is located in McDonald County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Comfort
- Stella
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Bethpage
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Bethpage is located in McDonald County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethpage
- Grangeville ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Grangeville is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grangeville
- Powell
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Powell is located in McDonald County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell
- Wanda
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Wanda is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wanda
- Cyclone
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Cyclone is located in McDonald County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cyclone
- Corsicana
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Corsicana is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corsicana
- Pioneer
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Pioneer is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
- Christopher
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Christopher is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christopher
- Newtonia
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Exeter
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Washburn
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Butterfield
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Butterfield is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butterfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 470 people
- Erie
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Erie is located in McDonald County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Bethlehem. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bethlehem.
Newspapers Published in Bethlehem ...
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 102 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bethlehem.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bethlehem, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bethlehem.
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 Bethlehem:
- Websites specific to Missouri
- Pages specific to McDonald County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Barry County
- Jasper County
- Lawrence County
- Newton County
- Benton County
- Carroll County
- Delaware County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Missouri
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 Bethlehem, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bethlehem) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |