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 Macdonald (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 Macdonald. 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.
Macdonald is located in Fayette County.
To see how the shape of West Virginia's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Fayette County: Greenbrier, Kanawha, Nicholas, Raleigh & Summers.
Below are the counties that are near Macdonald. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Macdonald:
- Fayette County (The home county of Macdonald)
- The following are listed by their distance from Macdonald, with the one closest to Macdonald listed first.
- Mount Hope
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Kilsyth
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Kilsyth is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kilsyth
- White Oak Junction
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- White Oak Junction is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oak Junction
- Harvey
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Harvey is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvey
- Redstar
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Redstar is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redstar
- McKendree
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- McKendree is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKendree
- Prince
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Whipple
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Whipple is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whipple
- Newlyn ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Newlyn is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newlyn
- Sewell Knob ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Sewell Knob is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sewell Knob
- Sewell Knob has also been known as:
- Swell Knob
- Pax
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Pax is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pax
- Population from the 2020 Census: 150 people
- Alaska ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Alaska is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alaska
- Boone County
- The following are listed by their distance from Macdonald, with the one closest to Macdonald listed first.
- Whitesville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Whitesville is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 416 people
- Former names for Whitesville:
- Jarrods Valley
- Pritchard City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Whitesville <1>
- Elk Run Junction
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Elk Run Junction is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Run Junction
- Janie
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Janie is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Janie
- Former name for Janie:
- Mordue
- Sylvester
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Keith
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Keith is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keith
- Lindytown ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Lindytown is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lindytown
- Joes Creek
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Joes Creek is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joes Creek
- Orgas
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Orgas is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orgas
- Bald Knob
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Bald Knob is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bald Knob
- Greenwood
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Greenwood is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
- Rocklick
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Rocklick is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocklick
- Twilight
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Twilight is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twilight
- Greenbrier County
- The following are listed by their distance from Macdonald, with the one closest to Macdonald listed first.
- Rainelle
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- McRoss
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- McRoss is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McRoss
- Vale
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Vale is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vale
- Charmco
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Hines
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Hines is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hines
- Orient Hill
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Orient Hill is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orient Hill
- Rupert
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Crichton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Crichton is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crichton
- Crawley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Quinwood
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Quinwood is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
- Alderson
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Kieffer
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Kieffer is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kieffer
- Kanawha County
- The following are listed by their distance from Macdonald, with the one closest to Macdonald listed first.
- Carbon
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Carbon is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon
- Acme
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Acme is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acme
- Eskdale
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Eskdale is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eskdale
- Handley
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Handley is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Handley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 309 people
- Hollygrove
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Hollygrove is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollygrove
- Hollygrove has also been known as:
- Hollygrove Station
- Hudnall
- Hugheston
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Hugheston is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hugheston
- Ronda
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Ronda is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ronda
- Pratt
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Pratt is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt
- Population from the 2020 Census: 552 people
- Dry Branch
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Dry Branch is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Branch
- Glasgow
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Cabin Creek
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Cabin Creek is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cabin Creek
- Cedar Grove
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Cedar Grove is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
- Population from the 2020 Census: 897 people
- Nicholas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Macdonald, with the one closest to Macdonald listed first.
- Albion ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Albion is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
- Beech Glen
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Beech Glen is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Glen
- Runa
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Runa is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Runa
- Dixie
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Dixie is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixie
- Keslers Cross Lanes
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Keslers Cross Lanes is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keslers Cross Lanes
- Snow Hill
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Snow Hill is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Hill
- Tipton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Tipton is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tipton
- Morrison ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Morrison is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrison
- Zela
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Zela is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zela
- Carl
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Carl is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carl
- Peaser Junction ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Peaser Junction is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peaser Junction
- Raleigh County
- The following are listed by their distance from Macdonald, with the one closest to Macdonald listed first.
- Bradley
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bradley is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradley
- Piney View
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Piney View is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney View
- Terry
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Terry is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry
- Prosperity
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Prosperity is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prosperity
- Skelton
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Skelton is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skelton
- Stanaford
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Stanaford is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanaford
- Royal ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Royal is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal
- Sprague
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Sprague is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sprague
- White Stick
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- White Stick is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Stick
- Grandview
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Grandview is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
- Sweeneyburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sweeneyburg is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweeneyburg
- Beckley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Summers County
- The following are listed by their distance from Macdonald, with the one closest to Macdonald listed first.
- New Richmond ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- New Richmond is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Richmond
- Sandstone
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Jumping Branch
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Jumping Branch is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jumping Branch
- Nimitz
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Nimitz is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimitz
- Brooklin
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Brooklin is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklin
- Hinton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Bellepoint
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Bellepoint is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellepoint
- Packs Ferry
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Packs Ferry is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packs Ferry
- True
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- True is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for True
- Hilldale
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Hilldale is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilldale
- Pipestem
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Buck
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Buck is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck
- Wyoming County
- The following are listed by their distance from Macdonald, with the one closest to Macdonald listed first.
- Kopperston
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Kopperston is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kopperston
- Mullens
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Keyrock
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Keyrock is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keyrock
- Bud
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Bud is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bud
- Rock View
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Rock View is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock View
- Oceana
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Turkey
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Turkey is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey
- Pineville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mullensville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Mullensville is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mullensville
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Macdonald, see our County-by-County Page for Macdonald.
Cemeteries Near Macdonald ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Macdonald.
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 Macdonald - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Macdonald covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Macdonald, with the one closest to Macdonald listed first.
- Blue Ridge Memorial Gardens
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hilltop Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- W.T. Warden Family Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for W.T. Warden Family Cemetery
- The W.T. Warden Family Cemetery has also been known as:
- Warden Family Cemetery
- Davis Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Pax Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Tyree Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- William Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Williams Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Biggs Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Sweeney Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Williams Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Teel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Continue List (305 more) ...
- Royal Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Peters Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- High Lawn Memorial Park
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
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 Macdonald in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Macdonald.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Macdonald, with the one closest to Macdonald listed first.
- Mount Hope
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Prosperity
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Prosperity is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prosperity
- Prince
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- McKendree
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- McKendree is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKendree
- Cirtsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Cirtsville is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cirtsville
- Grandview
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Grandview is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
- Quinnimont
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Quinnimont is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinnimont
- Alaska ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Alaska is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alaska
- Claremont
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Claremont is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claremont
- Stonecliff ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Stonecliff is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonecliff
- Stonecliff has also been known as:
- Stone Cliff
- Thurmond
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Oak Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Roseville ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Roseville is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
- Rush Run ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Rush Run is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rush Run
- Dimmock
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Dimmock is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dimmock
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Macdonald. See our List of 1890's Communities around Macdonald.
Newspapers Published in Macdonald ...
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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around Macdonald.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Macdonald, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Macdonald.
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 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 Macdonald:
- Websites specific to West Virginia
- Pages specific to Fayette County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Boone County
- Greenbrier County
- Kanawha County
- Nicholas County
- Raleigh County
- Summers County
- Wyoming County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for West Virginia
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 Macdonald, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Macdonald) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |