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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 McGee (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 McGee. 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 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.

McGee is located in Pennington County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Pennington County: Custer, Haakon, Jackson, Lawrence, Meade, Oglala Lakota & Weston (WY).

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

  • Pennington County     (The home county of McGee)
    • The following are listed by their distance from McGee, with the one closest to McGee listed first.
    • Ridgeland Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Ridgeland Heights is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeland Heights
      • Estimated population in 2014: 11 people
    • Colonial Pine Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Colonial Pine Hills is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Pine Hills
    • South Canyon Country Estates
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • South Canyon Country Estates is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Canyon Country Estates
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 364 people
    • Johnson Siding
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Johnson Siding is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson Siding
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 659 people
    • Stratosphere Bowl
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Stratosphere Bowl is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratosphere Bowl
      • Estimated population in 2014: 72 people
    • Wildwood Addition
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Wildwood Addition is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood Addition
      • Estimated population in 2014: 55 people
    • Pactola ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Pactola is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pactola
    • Rockerville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Sheridan ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Sheridan is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan
      • Estimated population in 2014: 447 people
    • Rapid City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Keystone
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Silver City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Silver City is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
      • Estimated population in 2014: 60 people
  • Custer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McGee, with the one closest to McGee listed first.
    • Spokane ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Spokane is located in Custer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spokane
      • Estimated population in 2014: 3,237 people
    • Hermosa
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • State Game Lodge
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • State Game Lodge is located in Custer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Game Lodge
      • Estimated population in 2014: 29 people
    • Berne
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Berne is located in Custer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berne
    • Custer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Fairburn
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Fourmile
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Fourmile is located in Custer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fourmile
      • Estimated population in 2014: 70 people
    • Sanator
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Sanator is located in Custer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanator
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,350 people
  • Lawrence County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McGee, with the one closest to McGee listed first.
    • Merritt
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Merritt is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merritt
      • Estimated population in 2014: 175 people
    • Nemo
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Tomahawk
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Tomahawk is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomahawk
      • Estimated population in 2014: 36 people
    • Greenwood
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Greenwood is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
      • Greenwood has also been known as:
      • Laflin
    • Diamond City ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Diamond City is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond City
    • Gregory ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Gregory is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,264 people
    • Nahant
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Nahant is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nahant
    • Roubaix
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Roubaix is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roubaix
      • Estimated population in 2013: 14 people
    • Dumont
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Dumont is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumont
      • Estimated population in 2014: 45 people
    • Galena
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Galena is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galena
    • Woodville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Woodville is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodville
    • Englewood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Englewood is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englewood
      • Estimated population in 2014: 25 people
  • Meade County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McGee, with the one closest to McGee listed first.
    • Blackhawk
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Summerset
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Piedmont
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Tilford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Tilford is located in Meade County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilford
    • Bend
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Bend is located in Meade County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bend
    • Sturgis
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Viewfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Viewfield is located in Meade County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viewfield
      • Estimated population in 2014: 44 people

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

Cemeteries Near McGee ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of McGee.

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

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

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

  • Rockerville Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Pine Lawn Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Mt. Calvary Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Blackhawk Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mountain View Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the south of Keystone.
    • The Mountain View Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Keystone Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #97167 <2>
  • Piedmont Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Elk Vale Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Mountain Meadow Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Rochford Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Custer Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Black Hills National Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Galena Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Ft. Meade National Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Fairburn Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)

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

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

  • Rockerville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Pactola ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Pactola is located in Pennington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pactola
  • Sheridan ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Sheridan is located in Pennington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan
    • Estimated population in 2014: 447 people
  • Rapid City
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Blackhawk
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Silver City
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Silver City is located in Pennington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
    • Estimated population in 2014: 60 people
  • Hill City
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Hayward ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Hayward is located in Pennington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayward
  • Merritt
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Merritt is located in Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merritt
    • Estimated population in 2014: 175 people
  • Nemo
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Redfern
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Redfern is located in Pennington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redfern
  • Spokane ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Spokane is located in Custer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spokane
    • Estimated population in 2014: 3,237 people
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Piedmont
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Mystic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Mystic is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mystic
    • Oreville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Oreville is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oreville

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

Newspapers Published in McGee ...

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 53 newspapers that have been published in the area around McGee.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of McGee, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for McGee.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 McGee:

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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- McGee) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 McGee, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.