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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 Helena (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 Helena. 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 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.

Helena is located in Alfalfa County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Alfalfa County: Barber (KS), Harper (KS), Garfield, Grant, Major & Woods.

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

  • Alfalfa County     (The home county of Helena)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helena, with the one closest to Helena listed first.
    • Goltry
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jet
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jet is located in Alfalfa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jet
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 218 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jet <1>
    • Aline
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Carmen
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Lambert
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Lambert is located in Alfalfa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lambert
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6 people
    • Yewed
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Yewed is located in Alfalfa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yewed
    • Cherokee
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Vining
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Vining is located in Alfalfa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vining
    • Ingersoll
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Ingersoll is located in Alfalfa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingersoll
    • Byron
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Byron is located in Alfalfa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byron
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35 people
    • Burlington
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Amorita
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Blaine County
    • Okeene
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Garfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helena, with the one closest to Helena listed first.
    • Carrier
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Lahoma
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Hillsdale
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Hillsdale is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 119 people
      • Former name for Hillsdale:
      • Coldwater
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hillsdale <1>
    • Drummond
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • North Enid
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • North Enid is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Enid
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 917 people
    • Kremlin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Enid
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Enid is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enid
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 49,542 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Enid <1>
    • Waukomis
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Breckenridge
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Breckenridge is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breckenridge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 245 people
  • Grant County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helena, with the one closest to Helena listed first.
    • Nash
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Sand Creek
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Sand Creek is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Creek
    • Pond Creek
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Jefferson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jefferson is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8 people
    • Wakita
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Major County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helena, with the one closest to Helena listed first.
    • Ringwood
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Meno
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Cleo Springs
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Orienta
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Ames
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Isabella
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Fairview
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Woods County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helena, with the one closest to Helena listed first.
    • Dacoma
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Hopeton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Alva
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Alva is located in Woods County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alva
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,882 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alva <1>
    • Capron
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Capron is located in Woods County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capron
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 23 people
    • Avard
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Avard is located in Woods County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avard

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

Cemeteries Near Helena ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Helena.

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

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

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

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Helena had no post office or railroad service. In 2020, Helena had a population of 1,417 people.

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

  • Carwile
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Carwile is located in Alfalfa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carwile
  • Jet
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jet is located in Alfalfa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jet
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 218 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jet <1>
  • Aline
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Cherokee
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Isabella
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Fairview
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Driftwood
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Driftwood is located in Alfalfa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Driftwood
  • North Enid
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • North Enid is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Enid
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 917 people
  • Enid
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Enid is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enid
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 49,542 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Enid <1>
  • Kremlin
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
  • Waukomis
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Pond Creek
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Homestead
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Homestead is located in Blaine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestead
    • Alva
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Alva is located in Woods County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alva
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,882 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alva <1>
    • Okeene
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Helena ...

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 109 newspapers that have been published in the area around Helena.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Helena, 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 Helena.

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 Helena:

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 Helena, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Helena) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.