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 McDonald (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 McDonald. 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 hospitals 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.
McDonald is located in Powell 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 Powell County: Deer Lodge, Flathead, Granite, Jefferson, Lewis and Clark & Missoula.
Below are the counties that are near McDonald. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to McDonald:
- Powell County (The home county of McDonald)
- The following are listed by their distance from McDonald, with the one closest to McDonald listed first.
- Blackfoot City ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Blackfoot City is located in Powell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackfoot City
- Avon
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Elliston
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Blossburg
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Blossburg is located in Powell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blossburg
- Garrison
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Phosphate
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Phosphate is located in Powell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phosphate
- Goldcreek ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Deer Lodge
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Emery ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Emery is located in Powell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emery
- Wall City
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Wall City is located in Powell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wall City
- Jens
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Jens is located in Powell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jens
- Helmville
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Granite County
- The following are listed by their distance from McDonald, with the one closest to McDonald listed first.
- Drummond
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- New Chicago
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- New Chicago is located in Granite County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Chicago
- Hall
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from McDonald, with the one closest to McDonald listed first.
- Bernice
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bernice is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bernice
- Basin
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Comet ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Comet is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comet
- Comet has also been known as:
- High Ore
- Lewis and Clark County
- The following are listed by their distance from McDonald, with the one closest to McDonald listed first.
- Atlantic City ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Atlantic City is located in Lewis and Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlantic City
- Frontier Town
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Frontier Town is located in Lewis and Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frontier Town
- Marysville ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Austin
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Austin is located in Lewis and Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austin
- Canyon Creek
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Rimini ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Rimini is located in Lewis and Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rimini
- Birdseye
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Birdseye is located in Lewis and Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdseye
- Silver City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Silver City is located in Lewis and Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
- Lincoln
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Fort Harrison
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Park City
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Park City is located in Lewis and Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park City
- Helena
(27 miles [43.5 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>
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to McDonald, see our County-by-County Page for McDonald.
Cemeteries Near McDonald ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of McDonald.
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 McDonald - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for McDonald covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from McDonald, with the one closest to McDonald listed first.
- Avon Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Blackfoot Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- 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>
- Marysville Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Hillcrest Cemetery
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Silver City Cemetery
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Memorial Meadows Cemetery
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Ft. William Henry Harrison Cemetery
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Helmville Cemetery
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Montana State Veterans Cemetery
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- St. Thomas Cemetery
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Lincoln Gulch Cemetery
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Calvary Cemetery
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Continue List (10 more) ...
- Tuck Cemetery
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Benton Ave. Cemetery
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Home of Peace Cemetery
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
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 McDonald in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of McDonald.
These communities are listed based on their distance from McDonald, with the one closest to McDonald listed first.
- Blackfoot City ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Blackfoot City is located in Powell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackfoot City
- Avon
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Bradley ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bradley is located in Powell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradley
- Elliston
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Blossburg
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Blossburg is located in Powell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blossburg
- Garrison
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Gloster
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Gloster is located in Lewis and Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gloster
- Marysville ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Goldcreek ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Canyon Creek
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Rimini ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Rimini is located in Lewis and Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rimini
- Pioneer ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Pioneer is located in Powell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
- Continue List (8 more) ...
- Birdseye
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Birdseye is located in Lewis and Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdseye
- Helmville
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Iron
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Iron is located in Lewis and Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around McDonald. See our List of 1890's Communities around McDonald.
Newspapers Published in McDonald ...
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 107 newspapers that have been published in the area around McDonald.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of McDonald, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for McDonald.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 McDonald:
- Websites specific to Montana
- Pages specific to Powell County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Granite County
- Jefferson County
- Lewis and Clark County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Montana
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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- McDonald) 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 McDonald, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |