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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 Forest 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 Forest 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 Forest 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 occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Forest Heights: Forest Hts. (in Canada, 'Hgts.' is the more common abbreviation.)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Forest Heights. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Forest Heights.

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.

Forest Heights is located in Lewis and Clark County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Lewis and Clark County: Broadwater, Cascade, Flathead, Jefferson, Meagher, Powell & Teton.

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

  • Lewis and Clark County     (The home county of Forest Heights)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Heights, with the one closest to Forest Heights listed first.
    • Frontier Town
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Frontier Town is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frontier Town
    • Austin
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Austin is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austin
    • Rimini ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Rimini is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rimini
    • Fort Harrison
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Park City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Park City is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park City
    • Birdseye
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Birdseye is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdseye
    • Marysville ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Helena
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Helena is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 33,737 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Helena <1>
    • Silver City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Silver City is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
    • Atlantic City ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Atlantic City is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlantic City
    • Canyon Creek
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • East Helena
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Cavetown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Cavetown is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cavetown
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Heights, with the one closest to Forest Heights listed first.
    • Clancy
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Montana City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Alhambra
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Alhambra is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alhambra
    • Jefferson City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Comet ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Comet is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comet
      • Comet has also been known as:
      • High Ore
    • Basin
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Bernice
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Bernice is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bernice
    • Boulder
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Elkhorn
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Elkhorn is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
    • Elk Park
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Elk Park is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Park
  • Powell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Heights, with the one closest to Forest Heights listed first.
    • Blossburg
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Blossburg is located in Powell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blossburg
    • Elliston
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Blackfoot City ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Blackfoot City is located in Powell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackfoot City
    • Avon
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Emery ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Emery is located in Powell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emery
    • Deer Lodge
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Garrison
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Phosphate
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Phosphate is located in Powell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phosphate
    • Goldcreek ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Wall City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Wall City is located in Powell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wall City

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

Cemeteries Near Forest Heights ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Forest 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.

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 Forest Heights - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Forest Heights covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Ft. William Henry Harrison Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Montana State Veterans Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Home of Peace Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Benton Ave. Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Lewis & Clark County Poor Farm Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Silver City Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Marysville Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Resurrection Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Forestvale Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Lewis & Clark County Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Blackfoot Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackfoot Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Blackfoot Cemetery is located 6 miles [9.7 km]<2> to the north of Avon.
      • The Blackfoot Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Blackfoot City Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2498297 <3>
    • Avon Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Sunset Memorial Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)

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.<4>

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

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

  • Blossburg
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Blossburg is located in Powell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blossburg
  • Elliston
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Rimini ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Rimini is located in Lewis and Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rimini
  • Birdseye
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Birdseye is located in Lewis and Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdseye
  • Marysville ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Gloster
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Gloster is located in Lewis and Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gloster
  • Helena
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Helena is located in Lewis and Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 33,737 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Helena <1>
  • Iron
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Iron is located in Lewis and Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron
  • Blackfoot City ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Blackfoot City is located in Powell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackfoot City
  • Avon
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Canyon Creek
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Clancy
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Corbin
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Corbin is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corbin
    • Alhambra
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Alhambra is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alhambra
    • Montana City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in Forest 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 127 newspapers that have been published in the area around Forest Heights.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Forest Heights, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Forest Heights.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Forest Heights:

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>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- Forest Heights) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Forest Heights, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.