 The feature was photographed from aircraft of the United States Antarctic Service, 1939–1941, was observed and partially mapped from during February 1962, and was mapped in detail by the United States Geological Survey in 1965.The heights were named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names after Captain Edwin A. McDonald, U.S. Navy, Deputy Commander of the U.S.Naval Support Force, Antarctica, in 1962, and Commander of the Task Unit that explored this coast aboard "Glacier" in February 1962.