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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 Dillon (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 Dillon. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Dillon is located in Beaverhead County and is the County Seat.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Beaverhead County: Clark (ID), Fremont (ID), Lemhi (ID), Deer Lodge, Madison, Ravalli & Silver Bow.

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

  • Beaverhead County     (The home county of Dillon)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dillon, with the one closest to Dillon listed first.
    • Argenta
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argenta
      • Argenta is located in Beaverhead County
    • Glen
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Bannack ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bannack
      • Bannack is located in Beaverhead County
    • Armstead ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Armstead have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armstead
      • Armstead is located in Beaverhead County
    • Polaris
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Elkhorn ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elkhorn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
      • Elkhorn is located in Beaverhead County
    • Glendale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
      • Glendale is located in Beaverhead County
    • Lion City ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lion City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lion City
      • Lion City is located in Beaverhead County
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dillon, with the one closest to Dillon listed first.
    • Alder
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alder have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alder
      • Alder is located in Madison County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alder <1>
    • Laurin ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Laurin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurin
      • Laurin is located in Madison County
    • Twin Bridges
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Bridges have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Bridges
      • Twin Bridges is located in Madison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 434 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Twin Bridges <1>
    • Sheridan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sheridan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan
      • Sheridan is located in Madison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 771 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sheridan <1>
  • Silver Bow County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Dillon ...

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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Dillon.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Dillon. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Dillon and those printed in the larger area surrounding Dillon.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Dillon.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Dillon:

Cemeteries Near Dillon ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Dillon.

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

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

  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Poindexter Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Argenta Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Haining Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Point of Rocks Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Point of Rocks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Point of Rocks Cemetery
  • Reichle Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Bannack Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Bird Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Upper Ruby Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Upper Ruby Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Upper Ruby Cemetery
  • Sheridan Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sheridan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sheridan Cemetery
  • Twin Bridges Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Taylor Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Taylor Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Taylor Cemetery
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Laurin Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Laurin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Laurin Cemetery
    • Masonic Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Masonic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Masonic Cemetery
    • Rochester Cemetery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rochester Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rochester Cemetery

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Dillon had a population of 1,012 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Dillon had a population of 4,333 people.

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

  • Barretts
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barretts have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barretts
    • Barretts is located in Beaverhead County
  • Dalys
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dalys have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalys
    • Dalys is located in Beaverhead County
  • Apex
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Apex have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apex
    • Apex is located in Beaverhead County
  • Argenta
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argenta
    • Argenta is located in Beaverhead County
  • Grayling
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grayling have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayling
    • Grayling is located in Beaverhead County
  • Bannack ‑ Historic
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bannack
    • Bannack is located in Beaverhead County
  • Glen
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Red Rock
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Red Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Rock
    • Red Rock is located in Beaverhead County
  • Laurin ‑ Historic
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Laurin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurin
    • Laurin is located in Madison County
  • Twin Bridges
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Bridges have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Bridges
    • Twin Bridges is located in Madison County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 434 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Twin Bridges <1>
  • Sheridan
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sheridan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan
    • Sheridan is located in Madison County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 771 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sheridan <1>
  • Melrose
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)

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

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

The official website for State of Montana: https://mt.gov/

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 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.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Dillon) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Dillon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.2166, Longitude: -112.6348       In this case, the coordinates for Dillon 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>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 Dillon, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024