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The Commemorative Quarter for Montana





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 Kalispell (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 Kalispell. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and 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.

Kalispell is located in Flathead 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 Flathead County: Glacier, Lake, Lewis and Clark, Lincoln, Missoula, Pondera, Powell, Sanders & Teton.

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

  • Flathead County     (The home county of Kalispell)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kalispell, with the one closest to Kalispell listed first.
    • Evergreen
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evergreen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
      • Evergreen is located in Flathead County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Evergreen <2>
    • Forest Hill Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Hill Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Hill Village
      • Forest Hill Village is located in Flathead County
    • Creston
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Kila
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Rhodes
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhodes
      • Rhodes is located in Flathead County
    • Somers
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Halfmoon
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Halfmoon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halfmoon
      • Halfmoon is located in Flathead County
    • Columbia Falls
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Lakeside
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Whitefish
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Bigfork
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Hungry Horse
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hungry Horse have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hungry Horse
      • Hungry Horse is located in Flathead County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hungry Horse <2>
    • Bear Creek Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Creek Village
      • Bear Creek Village is located in Flathead County
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kalispell, with the one closest to Kalispell listed first.
    • Lake Mary Ronan
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Mary Ronan
      • Lake Mary Ronan is located in Lake County
    • Woods Bay
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woods Bay have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Bay
      • Woods Bay is located in Lake County
    • Proctor
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Rollins
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rollins have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollins
      • Rollins is located in Lake County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rollins <2>
    • Dayton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Bear Dance
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Dance
      • Bear Dance is located in Lake County
    • Elmo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Big Arm
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Swan Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Kings Point
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kings Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Point
      • Kings Point is located in Lake County
  • Sanders County
    • Niarada
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Niarada have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Niarada
      • Niarada is located in Sanders County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Kalispell ...

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 36 newspapers that have been published in the area around Kalispell.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Kalispell. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Kalispell and those printed in the larger area surrounding Kalispell.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3> of Kalispell.

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 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 Kalispell:

Cemeteries Near Kalispell ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Kalispell.

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

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

  • C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Conrad Memorial Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Conrad Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Conrad Memorial Cemetery
  • Demersville Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Demersville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Demersville Cemetery
  • Glacier Memorial Gardens
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Glacier Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Glacier Memorial Gardens
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trinity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trinity Cemetery
  • Spring Creek Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spring Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spring Creek Cemetery
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Cemetery
  • Creston Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • The Creston Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Creston Community Cemetery
    • Union Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Creston Cemetery
  • St. Richard Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Richard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Richard Cemetery
  • Lone Pine Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Soldiers Home Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Soldiers Home Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Soldiers Home Cemetery
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Woodlawn Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Whitefish Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Whitefish Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Whitefish Cemetery
    • Bigfork Community Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • The Bigfork Community Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Big Fork Community Cemetery
      • Swan View Memorial Gardens
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bigfork Community 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 in 1895, Kalispell had a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Kalispell had a population of 25,329 people.

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

  • Holt
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holt have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt
    • Holt is located in Flathead County
  • Columbia Falls
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)

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

The official website for Kalispell: www.kalispell.com/

The official website for Flathead County: www.co.flathead.mt.us/

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

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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Kalispell) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Kalispell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.2021, Longitude: -114.3152    
<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 Kalispell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024