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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 Steel Junction (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 Steel Junction. 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 Steel Junction ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Steel Junction: Steel Jct. (or less commonly used: Steel Jctn.)

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

Steel Junction is located in McCurtain 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 McCurtain County: Little River (AR), Polk (AR), Sevier (AR), Choctaw, Le Flore, Pushmataha, Bowie (TX) & Red River (TX).

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

  • McCurtain County     (The home county of Steel Junction)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Steel Junction, with the one closest to Steel Junction listed first.
    • Broken Bow
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Holly Creek
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Holly Creek is located in McCurtain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Creek
    • Golden
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Hochatown
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Idabel
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Idabel is located in McCurtain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idabel
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,876 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Idabel <1>
    • Eagletown
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Garvin
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Wright City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Millerton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Haworth
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Valliant
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Slim
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Slim is located in McCurtain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slim
  • Choctaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Steel Junction, with the one closest to Steel Junction listed first.
    • Swink
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Fort Towson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Little River County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Steel Junction, with the one closest to Steel Junction listed first.
    • Cerrogordo
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Cerrogordo is located in Little River County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cerrogordo
    • Winthrop
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Winthrop is located in Little River County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winthrop
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winthrop <1>
    • Foreman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Foreman is located in Little River County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foreman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 922 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Foreman <1>
  • Polk County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Steel Junction, with the one closest to Steel Junction listed first.
    • Bog Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Bog Springs is located in Polk County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bog Springs
    • Grannis
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Grannis is located in Polk County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grannis
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 566 people
    • Wickes
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Sevier County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Steel Junction, with the one closest to Steel Junction listed first.
    • Process City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Process City is located in Sevier County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Process City
    • De Queen
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Horatio
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Horatio is located in Sevier County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horatio
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,011 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Horatio <1>
    • Norwoodville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Norwoodville is located in Sevier County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwoodville
    • Gillham
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Gillham is located in Sevier County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gillham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
  • Red River County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Steel Junction, with the one closest to Steel Junction listed first.
    • Albion
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Albion is located in Red River County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
    • Greenwood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Greenwood is located in Red River County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
    • Acworth
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Acworth is located in Red River County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acworth
    • Silver City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Silver City is located in Red River County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
    • English
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • English is located in Red River County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English
    • Kanawha
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Kanawha is located in Red River County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanawha
    • Addielou
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Addielou is located in Red River County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Addielou

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

Cemeteries Near Steel Junction ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Steel Junction.

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 Steel Junction - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Lukfata Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Sweet Home Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Crown Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Watsons Memorial Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Pine Ridge Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Hochatown Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Redland Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Denison Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Forest Hill Baptist Church Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Hill Baptist Church Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Forest Hill Baptist Church Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<2> to the southeast of Garvin.
    • The Forest Hill Baptist Church Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Forest Hill Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #188528 <3>
  • Eagletown Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Canfield Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Tonka Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (82 more) ...
    • Thomas Chapel Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Philadelphia Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Haworth Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)

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 Steel Junction in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Steel Junction.

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

  • Albion
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Albion is located in Red River County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
  • Cerrogordo
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Cerrogordo is located in Little River County (AR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cerrogordo
  • Chapel Hill
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Chapel Hill is located in Sevier County (AR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
  • Manchester
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Manchester is located in Red River County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manchester
  • Norwoodville
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Norwoodville is located in Sevier County (AR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwoodville
  • Madras
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Madras is located in Red River County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madras
  • English
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • English is located in Red River County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English
  • Kanawha
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Kanawha is located in Red River County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanawha

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

Newspapers Published in Steel Junction ...

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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around Steel Junction.

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

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 websites either 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 Steel Junction:

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Steel Junction) 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 Steel Junction, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.