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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 Ravenna (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 Ravenna. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Ravenna is located in Granite 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 Granite County: Beaverhead, Deer Lodge, Missoula, Powell & Ravalli.

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

  • Granite County     (The home county of Ravenna)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ravenna, with the one closest to Ravenna listed first.
    • Bearmouth ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Bearmouth is located in Granite County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bearmouth
    • Beartown ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Beartown is located in Granite County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beartown
    • Garnet ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Garnet is located in Granite County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garnet
    • Stump Town ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Stump Town is located in Granite County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stump Town
    • Drummond
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Hall
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • New Chicago
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • New Chicago is located in Granite County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Chicago
    • Stone
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Stone is located in Granite County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone
    • Philipsburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Granite ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Granite is located in Granite County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite
  • Missoula County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ravenna, with the one closest to Ravenna listed first.
    • Clinton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Greenough
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Piltzville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Piltzville is located in Missoula County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piltzville
    • Bonner
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Milltown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • East Missoula
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • East Missoula is located in Missoula County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Missoula
    • Missoula
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Orchard Homes
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Orchard Homes is located in Missoula County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Homes
    • Travois Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Travois Village is located in Missoula County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Travois Village
    • Lolo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • De Smet
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • De Smet is located in Missoula County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Smet
  • Powell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ravenna, with the one closest to Ravenna listed first.
    • Reynolds City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Reynolds City is located in Powell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynolds City
    • Jens
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Jens is located in Powell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jens
    • Helmville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Ovando
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Goldcreek ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Wall City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Wall City is located in Powell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wall City
  • Ravalli County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ravenna, with the one closest to Ravenna listed first.
    • Florence
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Cinnabar Court
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Cinnabar Court is located in Ravalli County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cinnabar Court
    • Stevensville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Ravenna ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ravenna.

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 Ravenna - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Beartown Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Sand Park Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Park Cemetery
    • The Sand Park Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Coloma Cemetery
  • Valley Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Valley Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of New Chicago.
    • The Valley Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Drummond Cemetery
    • New Chicago Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #21151 <2>
  • Sunnyside Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Seeley Lake Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
  • St. Mary Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Mary Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Joseph's Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Missoula Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Post Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Florence - Carlton Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Philipsburg Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Helmville Cemetery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Ovando Cemetery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • St. Thomas Cemetery
      (29 miles [46.7 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.<3>

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

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

  • Clinton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Beartown ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Beartown is located in Granite County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beartown
  • Potomac
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Potomac is located in Missoula County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potomac
  • Drummond
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Bonner
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Stone
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Stone is located in Granite County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone
  • Missoula
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Bitter Root ‑ Historic
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Bitter Root is located in Ravalli County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bitter Root
  • Lolo
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Carlton
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Carlton is located in Missoula County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlton
  • Philipsburg
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Helmville
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Ovando
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Goldcreek ‑ Historic
    (29 miles [46.7 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 Ravenna. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ravenna.

Newspapers Published in Ravenna ...

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 62 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ravenna.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ravenna, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ravenna.

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 Ravenna:

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